ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: An isolated metachronous recurrence in the mesorectum from a primary ascending colon cancer is a rare finding that has not been previously reported. This may represent a form of retroperitoneal spread, sometimes referred to as "drop metastasis," which is an uncommon mechanism for metachronous recurrence. CASE PRESENTATION: A 38-year-old male presented to the Emergency Department in January of 2018 with profound anemia. A colonoscopy revealed innumerable colonic polyps. He reported having multiple family members diagnosed with colon cancer and was subsequently diagnosed with familial adenomatous polyposis with rectal sparing. Total abdominal colectomy with ileorectal anastomosis was performed, revealing a T3N1a adenocarcinoma of the ascending colon. The patient subsequently underwent 12 cycles of adjuvant FOLFOX. Surveillance imaging in late 2019 revealed a suspicious mass in the superior perirectal soft tissue without any other sites of potential disease. Completion proctectomy was performed in January 2020, 2 years after the initial resection. Pathology revealed a mesorectal tumor deposit located 1.5 cm distal to the ileorectal anastomosis. No evidence of mucosal involvement or nodal metastasis was identified. CONCLUSION: Isolated mesorectal recurrence is a rare and previously unreported clinical finding following resection of an ascending colon cancer with an ileorectal anastomosis. This likely represents a form of retroperitoneal spread.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Penetrating spinal cord injury (pSCI) is uncommon in civilian settings. However, there is a lack of consensus regarding perioperative management and thresholds for operative intervention. This review explores the various trends in the management of pSCI along with a literature review. CASE DESCRIPTION: A 34-year-old male presented with a gunshot wound (GSW) to the left chest. Injuries included a pneumothorax, diaphragmatic injury, splenic injury, multiple small bowel injuries, transverse colon injury, and a bullet lodged at the L5 spinal level. The patient underwent chest tube placement, an exploratory laparotomy, splenectomy, diaphragmatic repair, multiple small bowel resections, and a transverse colon resection. Later on, the patient required a lumbar laminectomy for wound debridement and bullet excision. CONCLUSION: The standards for the surgical management of pSCI are poorly defined. Older studies suggested that >7 days of antibiotics decreased the risk of infection associated with HVI while shorter regimens correlated with higher rates of spinal and neurologic infections (meningitis, paraspinal abscess, and osteomyelitis). Newer studies fail to confirm the benefit of extended antimicrobial therapy, noting no increased infections with 48 h or less of antibiotic use while suggesting increased risks of long-term antibiotic prophylaxis (i.e., antimicrobial resistance and Clostridium difficile infection). There is no current role for steroids in the treatment of pSCI, and routine operative management is no longer necessarily indicated.
