An atypical presentation of small bowel adenocarcinoma; a case report

Small bowel malignancy (SBM) is a rare malignancy in the gastrointestinal tract. Duodenum is the most commonly involved segment and the most common histological subtype is adenocarcinoma (40%). Due to a lack of screening tools and vague symptoms, its clinical detection is very challenging. A 27-year-old man presented at the surgical emergency of Lahore General Hospital in February 2019 with non-specific gastrointestinal symptoms (vomiting, abdominal pain), for which he had previously visited the hospital multiple times. Later, on further workup, he had been diagnosed as a case of intussusception on CT scan. On exploration, he had an impassable stricture in the jejunum. Resection anastomosis of the jejunum was done, but later, on histopathology it turned out to be adenocarcinoma. Adenocarcinoma of the small bowel is a rare entity, and, particularly in Pakistan, the available literature is limited. SBM should be included in the differentials of patients with vague abdominal symptoms. Future studies for the evaluation of new investigations and treatment modalities should be encouraged to improve the overall outcome of the patients.