Stercoral perforation of the colon.

An elderly man presented with abdominal pain and signs of peritonitis. Emergency laparotomy was performed and a stercoral perforation of the cecum was found with a large scybalum plugging the defect. The patient was treated with right colectomy and a stoma was formed from the terminal ileum and transverse colon. Stercoral perforation of the colon is extremely unusual and carries high morbidity and mortality. The etiology, diagnosis and treatment of the condition are briefly discussed.

Perforated nonspecific ulcer of the sigmoid colon: four cases in one year.

During 1993, four consecutive adult male patients underwent emergency surgery for free perforation of nonspecific sigmoid colon ulcers. All four patients presented with peritonitis and in each patient the Hartmann's procedure was performed. In each patient there was a single perforation but two of the patients presented with multiple erosions and ulcerations, and the other two- with solitary ulcers. All patients survived and had uneventful postoperative course. Three of them underwent uncomplicated restorations of the bowel continuity. Colonoscopy should be attempted in every suspicious case to confirm or to exclude the presence of nonspecific colon ulcers that could threat patient's life.