Is an Incidental Meckel's Diverticulum Truly Benign?

Case Reports in Surgery
Caroline C JadlowiecWilliam T Marshall

Abstract

Meckel's diverticulum is the most common congenital abnormality of the gastrointestinal tract and it is found to affect nearly 2 percent of the population. Interestingly, the surgical management of an asymptomatic Meckel's diverticulum remains widely controversial in the adult population. Review of the literature finds the overall risk of Meckel's diverticulum becoming symptomatic to be low; however, the risk accompanying its resection also proves to be minimal thus perpetuating the question of its proper management. We report our experience with an elderly patient who required an emergent operative intervention and was incidentally found to have Meckel's diverticulum. Review of final pathology found Meckel's diverticulum to contain a carcinoid tumor. In our review, the presence of a carcinoid tumor within Meckel's diverticulum is a rare finding, but its incidence may further support the resection of incidentally found asymptomatic Meckel's diverticulum in patients of all ages.

References

Oct 20, 1999·Abdominal Imaging·R ZissinM Shapiro-Feinberg
Nov 20, 2002·AJR. American Journal of Roentgenology·Perry J Pickhardt, Sanjeev Bhalla
Oct 1, 2004·ANZ Journal of Surgery·Ramon L VarcoeGraham L Newstead
Jan 27, 2005·Gastrointestinal Endoscopy·Fabrizio ParenteGabriele Bianchi Porro
Jan 25, 2008·Annals of Surgery·Augusto ZaniAgostino Pierro
Oct 20, 2009·The Surgical Clinics of North America·Janice L Pasieka
Dec 25, 2009·Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery : Official Journal of the Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract·George Vaos, Evangelos P Misiakos
Jul 10, 2014·ISRN Gastroenterology·Jeng-Jung ChenNein-Lu Wang

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Citations

Oct 6, 2015·Journal of Pediatric Surgery·Hasan Özkan GezerAkgun Hiçsönmez
Apr 26, 2018·ANZ Journal of Surgery·Wei Woon TengJitt Aun Chuah

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Methods Mentioned

BETA
surgical resection
prophylactic resection

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