Intussusception in an adult revealing a Vanek's tumor: A case report

Inflammatory fibroid tumors (IFT) or Vanek's tumors are scarce benign neoplasms. They can affect any part of the digestive tract. They are underdiagnosed conditions that are generally revealed by a life-threatening complication such as intussusception. The final diagnosis is set on the resection specimen after curative surgery.

A 35-year-old patient presented with an acute small bowel occlusion related with an ileo-ileal intussusception revealed by an emergency CT-scan. The etiology of the occlusion wasn't clear but we suspected a complicated malignant tumor of the small bowel. Therefore, an emergency surgery was performed and we resected the tumor with margins. The diagnosis of Vanek's tumor was set at the pathology examination.

Inflammatory fibroid tumors are mesenchymal tumors with no malignant potential. However, they can be revealed by a dangerous complication leading to an emergency surgery. Complete resection is required and pathology examination set the diagnosis.

Surgeons should include IFT among the several differential diagnosis of ileal intussusception of the adults as it mimics other small bowel tumors. Only pathology examination can set the diagnosis.