Acute abdominal disease in the aged

Epigastraglia with tarry stools in a middle-aged female caused by jejunal intussusception due to a hamartoma

Upper gastrointestinal (GI) hemorrhage is a common presentation to an emergency department. Often, the diagnosis is peptic ulcer disease in which vague or sharp abdominal pain is associated with bleeding. In contrast, intussusception is a rare cause of abdominal pain and coincident GI bleeding. In this case, we report a 41-year-old woman who had an intussuscepting jejunal obstruction due to a hamartoma of the small bowel. The diagnosis was established by ultrasonography. In review of the literature, abdominal pain and bleeding are two common manifestations of intussusception when the lesion originates in the small bowel. Intussusception is frequently included in the differential diagnosis of pediatric patients with coincident abdominal pain and bleeding. However, it is rarely mentioned as an adult cause of these two findings. Because of the delayed and nonspecific presentations of abdominal discomfort in adult patients with intussusception, the diagnosis is often delayed. This case points out the need for considering intussusception even in middle-aged patients whose initial presentation is concomitant bleeding and pain.