Intestinal lipomatosis: Report of two cases

Abstract

Intestinal lipomatosis is a proliferation of histologically normal fatty tissue in the gastrointestinal tract. It is characterized benign, asymptomatic, slow growing tumors with sub-epithelial origins. On rare occasions, they become symptomatic and can be associated with major complications such as gastrointestinal obstructions and bleeding. This rare pathology has been reported several times in the literature but not in Colombia prior to this study. We present two cases that were evaluated and followed up at the Unión de Cirujanos SAS and the University of Caldas in Manizales, Colombia.

The first is a 70-year-old man who had a history of colic associated with bloating and postprandial diarrhea. The initial upper digestive endoscopy reported multiple yellowish, submucosal lesions in the duodenum. His histological diagnosis was lipomas. In this case, an endoscopic video capsule determined the distribution and characteristics of the lesions throughout the gastrointestinal tract and assessed complications.

The second is an 81-year-old man who entered the institution due to lipothymia and rectal bleeding. Upper endoscopy and colonoscopy were normal, but a videocapsule endoscopy showed lipomatous lesions one of which was bleeding and had adjacent angiodysplasia. He was treated with double balloon enteroscopy and Argon plasma therapy.