A Rare Cause of Intestinal Pseudo-obstruction: Gastrointestinal Amyloid

Amyloidosis is characterized by extracellular deposition of the amyloid protein. It can affect multiple organ systems but it most commonly affects the heart, kidney and gastrointestinal (GI) tract. It can occur sporadically or in association with other conditions like multiple myeloma, chronic inflammatory diseases, infections etc. Its involvement of the gastrointestinal tract is rare and diffuse. It has variable manifestations in GI tract from involving the stomach to the large bowel including liver. We present a case of 55 year old Caucasian male with recent diagnosis of multiple myeloma who presented with recurrent episodes of small bowel obstruction which was later found to be caused by amyloid deposition.