Intestinal Endometriosis. A rare cause of acute abdomen

Abstract

Endometriosis is defined as the presence of endometrial glands and stroma outside the uterine cavity. Its incidence isreported to be approximately 5%–15% in the reproductive age group. While endometriosis usually occurs on pelvic organand peritoneal surfaces, it rarely occurs extra-abdominally. Intestinal endometriosis involves the localisation of function-al endometrial tissue in the intestinal system. However intestinal obstruction due to severe stenosis of the small bowelobstruction, as in the case described by the authors, is rare. Surgical treatment – resection and anastomosis or conserv-ative procedures – provides better results especially when a multidisciplinary approach is used (surgeon, gynecologist, andgastroenterologist). The authors report a case of obstruction of the small bowel obstruction due to endometriosis andanalyse the pathophysiology, diagnosis and surgical management of this disorder.