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The Desmoid Tumor Research Foundation

August 2025

Desmoid tumor causing large bowel obstruction: an extremely rare diagnosis with an innovative treatment approach

Author Information

Mohanad Ibrahim 1, Ammar Aleter 1, Ali Toffaha 1 2, Hamza A Abdul-Hafez 3, Mohammed Yousif 1, Mohamed Kurer 1 2

1Colorectal Surgery Unit, General Surgery Department, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar. 2College of Medicine, QU Health, Qatar University, Doha. 3Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, An-Najah National University, Nablus, Palestine.

Publication

J Surg Case Rep

Summary

Desmoid tumors are rare, benign, slow-growing, fibroblastic neoplasms that originate from musculoaponeurotic structures throughout the body. Desmoid tumors originating from the abdominal wall or retroperitoneum are extraintestinal lesions that can rarely infiltrate the small bowel or stomach, let alone compress the colon, which is an extraordinary incident leading to mechanical bowel obstruction. Here, we present a rare case of large bowel obstruction caused by a desmoid tumor originating mostly from the abdominal wall that invaded the splenic flexure and stomach in a patient with no history of familial adenomatous polyposis or prior surgical procedures. The extracolonic compression causing obstruction was treated initially with colonic stenting. Such a method of treatment is infrequent with extracolonic lesions since the possibility of migration or failure to release the obstruction is significantly high. The obstruction was released successfully followed by surgery.

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