10 Jan 2020Case Report
Spontaneous rupture of a non-functioning pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor A case report of a rare cause of acute abdomen
Pietro Achilli 1Marco Chiarelli 2Ugo Giustizieri 2Morena Burati 2Fulvio Tagliabue 2Matteo Maternini 3Sabina Terragn 3Angelo Guttadauro 3
Affiliations
Article Info
1 University of Milan, Fondazione IRCCS Ca’ Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milano (MI), Italy
2 Department of General Surgery, Ospedale Manzoni, Lecco, ASST Lecco, Italy
3 Department of Surgery, University of Milan-Bicocca, Istituti Clinici Zucchi, Monza, Italy
Ann. Ital. Chir., 2020, 9(September), 1-5;
Published: 10 Jan 2020
Copyright (c) 2020 Annali Italiani di Chirurgia
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (PNETs) are a group of rare tumors that account for 2% of all pancreatic malignancies, even though their incidence has been increasing over the past 20 years. Most PNETs are sporadic and tend to afect older individuals. Diferently from functional tumors, which present with symptoms resulting from the speciic hormone being elaborated, non-functioning pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (NF-PNETs) typically present with symptoms related to local mass efect or metastatic disease. Today, due to the increasing use of abdominal imaging, NFPNETs are frequently discovered incidentally. CASE REPORT: A 32-year-old woman was admitted to our emergency department for worsening upper abdominal pain radiating to the back. Shortly after the admission, shock and peritoneal signs developed. An abdominal computerized tomography scan showed a solid mass (9 x 12 cm) of the pancreatic tail with severe hemoperitomeum. Exploratory laparotomy and subsequent distal splenopancreasectomy were performed for a bleeding tumor. Histopathological report showed a neuroendocrine, well diferentiated tumor (G1). he postoperative course was uneventful and the patient was successfully discharged on 10th postoperative day. CONCLUSION: Spontaneous rupture of solid neuroendocrine neoplasms of the pancreas can cause acute abdomen with potentially devastating efects
Keywords
- Abdominal pain
- acute abdomen
- Hemorrhagic shock
- Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor