A Case of Sigmoidorectal Intussusception after Self-Expandable Colonic Stent Placement

ABSTRACT

Self-expandable metallic stents are widely used to relieve acute colorectal obstruction that's secondary to malignancy. They are utilized for both palliation and preoperative decompression prior to colorectal surgery. Although stents have been documented as a relatively safe therapeutic modality, procedure-related complications such as perforation, bleeding, stent reobstruction and migration can occur during or after colonic stent placement. Therefore, clinicians must be aware of the various complications associated with colonic stent placement. We present here a very rare case of sigmoidorectal intussusception that developed after fluoroscopic placement of a self-expandable metallic stent for preoperative decompression of sigmoid colon cancer. We misdiagnosed the intussusception as a distal stent migration on the plain radiography. On the sigmoidoscopic examination to evaluate the unrelieved colonic obstruction, we diagnosed a sigmoidorectal intussusception of the stent-implanted malignant tumor. The patient was successfully treated by laparoscopic partial reduction, followed by a curative anterior resection. This case demonstrates that careful examination must be done in cases of unrelieved colonic obstruction with suspicious stent migration, and intussusception must be considered as a rare complication of self-expandable metallic stent placement in the colon.