Seçkin Akküçük, Akın Aydoğan, İlhan Paltacı, Muhiyittin Temiz

Department of General Surgery, Mustafa Kemal University Faculty of Medicine, Hatay, Turkey

Abstract

Colon varices are very rare lesions that usually present as secondary to portal hypertension. Idiopathic colon varices are even rarer, and should be considered especially in the etiology of massive lower gastrointestinal bleeding. Forty-five year old male presented to our hospital with complaints of recurrent rectal bleeding for one week and severe anemia. The patient was transfused with 4 units of blood. His colonoscopy revealed diffuse submucosal varices. The tests performed for investigation of etiology did not reveal any portal pathology. The patient did not experience another episode of active bleeding during follow-up and was discharged with conservative recommendations. Idiopathic colon varices are rare but should be considered in the differential diagnosis of patients presenting with massive rectal bleeding. Conservative approach is first line of treatment, reserving segmental or total colectomy only for ongoing hemorrhage.

Keywords: Rectal bleeding, colon varices, idiopathic


 

Peer Review

Externally peer-reviewed.

Author Contributions

Concept - S.A.; Design - S.A., A.A.; Data Collection and / or Processing - İ.P., M.T., S.A.; Analysis and / or interpretation - S.A., A.A., İ.P., M.T., Literature Review - S.A., A.A.; / Writer - S.A., A.A., Critical Review - M.T.

Conflict of Interest

No conflict of interest was declared by the authors.

Financial Disclosure

The authors declared that this study has received no financial support.