Rectal Dieulafoy's lesion - Report of a case and review of the literature

Dieulafoy's lesion is an uncommon cause of gastrointestinal breeding that o ccurs after rupture of an exposed submucosal artery. The vast majority of l esions are found in the stomach, but cases have been described in the esoph agus, small intestine, colon, and rectum. We describe an elderly patient wh o presented with severe lower gastrointestinal bleeding caused by a rectal Dieulafoy's lesion. This is the first report of a rectal Dieulafoy's lesion treated successfully with endoscopic epinephrine injection followed by the rmocoagulation. We review the physiopathology, clinical presentation, diagn osis, and treatment of this disease.