A small, low-grade rectal neuroendocrine tumor with lateral pelvic lymph node metastasis: a case report.

Rectal neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) are typically small lesions that are confined to the submucosa and have favorable behavior at the time of diagnosis. Local endoscopic or surgical resection is recommended because lymph node metastasis is very rare. In this report, we present the case of a 36-year-old male presenting with an incidentally found rectal mass during screening colonoscopy. Pathologic examination of the primary tumor revealed a 9-mm grade 1 NET with submucosal invasion and no significant aggressive factors except for central ulceration. However, radiologic studies revealed a suspected 2.6-cm mesorectal lymph node metastasis and multiple left internal iliac lymph node metastases. We performed laparoscopic intersphincteric resection with left lateral pelvic lymph node dissection. The final pathologic report revealed a metastatic lymph node with low grade, low mitotic count, and low Ki-67 index. We describe an overview of lymph node metastasis of rectal NETs focusing on lateral pelvic lymph node metastasis.

Patient outcomes and prognostic factors associated with colonic perforation surgery: a retrospective study.

BACKGRUOUND: Despite advances in surgery and intensive perioperative care, fecal peritonitis secondary to colonic perforation is associated with high rates of morbidity and mortality. This study was performed to review the outcomes of patients who underwent colonic perforation surgery and to evaluate the prognostic factors associated with mortality. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was performed on 224 consecutive patients who underwent emergency colonic perforation surgery between January 2008 and May 2019. We divided the patients into survivor and non-survivor groups and compared their surgical outcomes. RESULTS: The most common cause of colon perforation was malignancy in 54 patients (24.1%), followed by iatrogenic perforation in 41 (18.3%), stercoral perforation in 39 (17.4%), and diverticulitis in 37 (16.5%). The sigmoid colon (n=124, 55.4%) was the most common location of perforation, followed by the ascending colon, rectum, and cecum. Forty-five patients (20.1%) died within 1 month after surgery. Comparing the 179 survivors with the 45 non-survivors, the patient characteristics associated with mortality were advanced age, low systolic blood pressure, tachycardia, organ failure, high C-reactive protein, high creatinine, prolonged prothrombin time, and high lactate level. The presence of free or feculent fluid, diffuse peritonitis, and right-sided perforation were associated with mortality. In multivariate analysis, advanced age, organ failure, right-sided perforation, and diffuse peritonitis independently predicted mortality within 1 month after surgery. CONCLUSION: Age and organ failure were prognostic factors for mortality associated with colon perforation. Furthermore, right-sided perforation and diffuse peritonitis demonstrated a significant association with patient mortality.

Impact of CT imaging on predicting the surgical management of acute diverticulitis.

PURPOSE: The incidence of colonic diverticular disease is increasing, and several grading systems based on CT findings have been developed. The objective of this study was to define the impact of various CT findings of colonic diverticulitis and to demonstrate which factors affect the need for operative treatment. METHODS: Three hundred fifty-seven patients diagnosed with colonic diverticulitis from January 2010 to July 2016 were retrospectively evaluated. Patients were excluded if pure diverticulosis, diverticular bleeding, colon cancer, or relevant data deficiencies, and the remaining patients (n = 178) were reviewed. Patients were categorized into a successful nonoperation group and an operation group. The operation group was then matched 1:2 with the nonoperative group based on age, gender, American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status classification, and body mass index. RESULTS: After propensity score matching, there were no significant differences regarding patients' demographic characteristics between the 2 groups. Left location was more associated with need for operation than the right side (79.2% vs. 31.3%, P < 0.001). CT findings such as distant intraperitoneal air, pericolic air, and free fluid were significantly more apparent in the operation group. When these factors were evaluated in a multivariate analysis, distant intraperitoneal air showed statistical significance (P = 0.046) and pericolic air and left location a significant trend (P = 0.071 and P = 0.067, respectively). CONCLUSION: This study suggests that distant intraperitoneal air is the most important factor in the need for surgery in patients with colonic diverticulitis. Further study will be able to identify more detailed CT findings and verify their significance, and will be helpful in designing practical scoring and classification systems.