Jejunal diverticulosis as cause of gastrointestinal hemorrhages. Case report

Jejunal diverticulosis is a very uncommon acquired disease. Clinical manife stations include acute life threatening complication such as perforation, o bstruction and bleeding. Jejunal diverticulosis is an extremely rare site o f origin of gastrointestinal bleeding, with fewer than seventy cases report ed in the literature: We report a 77-year-old patient with a recurrent seve re gastrointestinal bleeding manifested by melena and hematochaezia. During the hospitalization the tagged red blood cell scanning was positive for bl eeding in the jejunum. At laparotomy, several large-mouthed diverticula at the proximal jejunum were identified. Approximately 30 centimeters of the i nvolved segment was resected with primary end-to-end anastomosis. Postopera tive 7 month evolution has been favorable without any evidence of rebleedin g. This report reviews the literature concerning this disease: discusses so me diagnostic methods of studying small bowel bleeding and highlights the n eed to consider this diagnosis in old patients with a gastrointestinal hemo rrhage of unknown origin (Rev Med Chile 2000; 128: 1133-38).