Adult congenital megacolon with acute fecal obstruction and diabetic nephropathy: A case report

Exp Ther Med. 2019 Oct;18(4):2726-2730. doi: 10.3892/etm.2019.7852. Epub 2019 Aug 5.

Abstract

Megacolon is a congenital disorder. Adult congenital megacolon (ACM), also known as adult Hirschsprung's disease, is rare and frequently manifests as constipation. ACM is caused by the absence of ganglion cells in the submucosa or myenteric plexus of the bowel. Most patients undergo treatment of megacolon at a young age, but certain patients cannot be treated until they develop bowel obstruction in adulthood. Bowel obstruction in adults always occurs in complex clinical situations and it is frequently combined with comorbidities, including bowel tumors, volvulus, hernias, hypertension or diabetes mellitus. Surgical intervention is always required in such cases. To avoid recurrence, a sufficient amount of bowel should be removed, particularly the aganglionic segment. Furthermore, the patient's general physical condition should be considered pre-operatively by controlling parameters including blood pressure and blood glucose. In the present study, a case of ACM combined with fecal impaction and diabetic nephropathy was presented.

Keywords: adult congenital megacolon; bowel obstruction; diabetic nephropathy.