Treatment of Jejunal Angiodysplasia by Video-Assisted Intestinal Resection, a Case Report and Literature Review

Abstract

Intestinal angiodysplasia is one of the main etiologies of bleeding within elderly patients. This entity can present in any portion of the intestinal tract, however, when it affects the small intestine it appears as obscure gastrointestinal bleeding up to 30 to 40% of the cases and it represents a diagnosis and management challenge. Early diagnosis is important to establish the most adequate treatment. We present the case of a 69 years old male patient with obscure gastrointestinal bleeding due to a jejunal angiodysplasia, requiring endoscopic location of varicose vessels and dye instillation followed by surgical management with a video-assisted intestinal resection. Conclusions: Intestinal angiodysplasia is an important etiology of bleeding and should be considered when treating an obscure gastrointestinal bleeding case. The combination of endoscopic procedures to precise diagnosis and surgical management is possible and has low rates of complications, morbidity or mortality.