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Papers of the Week


2020 Mar 30


Cureus


12


3

Chronic Abdominal Pain: A Case of Giant Fecalith in the Distal Jejunum.

Authors

Gutierrez E, Montelongo D, Gamboa E, Varon J, Surani S
Cureus. 2020 Mar 30; 12(3):e7468.
PMID: 32351847.

Abstract

A fecalith is a mass of an accumulation of hardened fecal matter that is seen in patients with Chagas disease, Hirschsprung's disease, and inflammatory bowel disease. In this article, we report a case of a 53-year-old female with chronic abdominal pain who was admitted with progressive weight loss, near syncope episode, and serum potassium of 2.6 mg/dL. An abdominal computed tomography (CT) scan revealed a left lower quadrant complex mass measuring 10.3 cm, with asymmetrical wall thickening and inflammatory stranding, non-discarding the compromise of the small bowel and consequent mild small bowel distention. A fecalith of 10.3 x 10.9 x 8.7 cm was found during an exploratory laparotomy in the small intestine. We report this rare case of distal jejunum fecalith accompanied by chronic pain.