Meckel’s diverticulum misdiagnosed as a small intestinal polyp

• Main Author: Vasiliki Ziozia, Michalis Tsimaras, Napoleon Xirokostas, Stefanos Koffas, Panagiotis Prigkouris, Dimitrios Filippou, Panagiotis Skandalakis, Vasileios Komporozos
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bulgarian Association of Young Surgeons 2019-04-01
• Series: International Journal of Surgery and Medicine
• Subjects: meckel’s diverticulum; small intestine polyp; misdiagnosed meckel’s diverticulum
• Online Access: http://www.ejos.org/index.php?fulltxt=292938&fulltxtj=136&fulltxtp=136-1520350130.pdf

Background: Meckel’s diverticulum is the most common congenital abnormality of the small intestine, with an incidence about 2% of the population. It is asymptomatic in most cases. When symptomatic, it’s most common clinical presentation is bleeding in children and intestinal obstruction in adults. Small intestinal polyps are a challenging clinical problem. They present with various symptoms and their diagnosis is difficult due to limitations in radiographic and endoscopic detection. Case report: We present a case of a 25 –years old male patient with chronic intermittent abdominal pain, who was admitted to our department for an elective laparoscopic resection of a small intestinal polyp, diagnosed via CT and MRI enterography. However, laparoscopy revealed a Meckel’s diverticulum and no other pathology of the small intestine. Conclusion: Both Meckel’s diverticulum and small intestinal polyps are rare conditions and their differential diagnosis is challenging. A high clinical index of suspicion is demanded, as well as accurate radiographic and endoscopic tests in order to diagnose and therefore treat symptomatic patients.