Department of Gastroenterological Surgery, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-2 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan.
World J Surg Oncol. 2012 Feb 6;10:30. doi: 10.1186/1477-7819-10-30.
The spacer placement is a prevalent procedure to separate the surrounding normal tissues from locally recurrent rectal tumor before the application of radiotherapy. However, complications could occur due to the foreign nature of the spacer. This report describes a case of 60-year-old man who had undergone radiotherapy two years earlier for a recurrent rectal tumor and presented with small bowel obstruction. A spacer was used before radiotherapy. Radiological assessment and laparotomy revealed the presence of the spacer inside the small bowel lumen. It is possible that the spacer established contact with the intestine, elicited local inflammatory reaction that facilitated the complete penetration of the intestinal wall without causing any clinical symptoms.
spacer 的放置是一种常见的程序，可在应用放射治疗前将周围正常组织与局部复发性直肠肿瘤隔开。然而，由于 spacer 的异物性质，可能会发生并发症。本报告描述了一例 60 岁男性，两年前因复发性直肠肿瘤接受放射治疗，出现小肠梗阻。放射治疗前使用了 spacer。放射学评估和剖腹术显示 spacer 存在于小肠腔中。有可能 spacer 与肠接触，引起局部炎症反应，促进肠壁完全穿透而没有引起任何临床症状。
