Incidental Carcinoid Tumor Arising in a Meckel’s Diverticulum

TL;DR

A patient with a bowel obstruction had a small carcinoid tumor found in their Meckel’s diverticulum during surgery.

Contribution

Highlights the importance of decision-making in managing asymptomatic Meckel’s diverticulum found incidentally during surgery.

Findings

A carcinoid tumor was found in a Meckel’s diverticulum during surgery for bowel obstruction.

The tumor was classified as pT1b and pN0, indicating limited invasion.

The case emphasizes the lack of consensus on managing asymptomatic Meckel’s diverticulum found incidentally.

Abstract

This case report describes a patient who presented with concern for a closed-loop small bowel obstruction (SBO). During exploratory laparotomy, an area of ischemic bowel due to closed loop obstruction was resected, along with an incidentally discovered inflamed-appearing Meckel’s diverticulum (MD). The resected specimen contained a well-differentiated carcinoid tumor of benign behavior with a maximum diameter of 0.6 cm, which invaded the submucosal layer (pT1b and pN0). Over the last several years, there has been a debate with little consensus regarding the proper surgical management in the case of an asymptomatic MD that is discovered incidentally during abdominal exploration. The intention of sharing this case is to underline the importance of the decision-making process in treating patients with this intraabdominal pathologic condition found incidentally at the time of surgery.

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