title: Intramural haemorrhage of the colon.
abstract: Two cases of acute abdominal crisis due to intramural haemorrhage of the colon are presented with a review of the literature. One was a 10-year-old Nigerian boy; the haemorrhage occurred in the caecum and ascending colon. The other was a 69-year-old Caucasian woman with a haemorrhage in the colonic splenic flexure and descending colon. Both had a one-stage resection with anastomosis. The child survived; the woman died two days after the operation. The preoperative diagnosis of bleeding colonic lesions remains difficult especially when facilities for investigation are scarce. It is re-emphasized that in patients with acute abdomen it is not necessary to insist on accurate preoperative diagnosis before offering appropriate treatment.
authors.affiliation: Sophia Clinic, Port Harcourt, Nigeria. eke.obowu@alpha.linkserve.com
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Eke
mesh_terms: D000006:Abdomen, Acute / Q000209:etiology; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D003108:Colonic Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D006471:Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male