A rare cause of small bowel obstruction: small bowel polyps—a five year retrospective surgical study

Murat Demir; Baki Ekçi; Sadık Peker; Beste Noyan Mod; Hüseyin Kılavuz

doi:10.32322/jhsm.1856273

A rare cause of small bowel obstruction: small bowel polyps—a five year retrospective surgical study

Abstract

Aims: Small bowel obstruction (SBO) is most frequently caused by postoperative adhesions, while intraluminal lesions such as small bowel polyps remain a rare and often overlooked contributing factor. Due to a nonspecific clinical presentation and limited preoperative diagnostic accuracy, these lesions are frequently identified coincidentally during surgical exploration. This study aims to evaluate the demographic characteristics, surgical findings, histopathological features, and clinical outcomes of patients operated on for SBO caused by small bowel polyps. Methods: This retrospective cohort study included patients who underwent surgical intervention for SBO between 2020 and 2025. Among these, patients in whom small bowel polyps were diagnosed as the cause of obstruction were analyzed. Demographic data, clinical presentation, imaging findings, intraoperative obstruction sites, surgical procedures performed, histopathological results, and postoperative outcomes were evaluated. Results: A total of 10 patients were included in the study, with a mean age of 49.5±10.55 years. The male-to-female ratio was 3:2. Obstruction was located in the ileum segment of the small intestine in all patients. Nine patients underwent open surgery, and one patient underwent laparoscopic surgery. In the preoperative computed tomography examinations of the patients, the length of the intussuscepted segment was 10.18±3.14 cm, the diameter of the intussuscepted segment was 4.23±0.26 cm, and the length of the resected small-bowel segment was 29±9.37 cm. Histopathological examination revealed 6 patients with inflammatory fibroid polyp (IFP, Vanek’s tumor), 3 patients with inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor (IMT), and 1 patient with polypoid gastric heterotopia. The average hospital stay was 6±1.76 days, and 1 patient developed superficial surgical site infection. No perioperative mortality was observed. Conclusion: Although small bowel polyps are a rare cause of adult SBO, they should be considered in the differential diagnosis, particularly in patients without a history of prior abdominal or pelvic surgery. Surgical intervention remains both diagnostic and therapeutic, allowing resolution of obstruction and definitive identification of the underlying lesion. Increased awareness of this uncommon etiology, combined with careful preoperative imaging and histopathological assessment, may facilitate earlier diagnosis, guide surgical management and improve patient outcomes.

Keywords

Supporting Institution

None

Ethical Statement

The study protocol received approval from the Ethics Committee of Basaksehir Cam and Sakura City Hospital (Approval Code: 2025/411, Approval Date: 19 November 2025)

References

Taylor MR, Lalani N. Adult small bowel obstruction. Acad Emerg Med. 2013;20(6):528-544. doi:10.1111/acem.12150
Mullan CP, Siewert B, Eisenberg RL. Small bowel obstruction. AJR Am J Roentgenol. 2012;198(2):W105-W117. doi:10.2214/AJR.10.4998
Kaplan LJ, Martinez-Casas I, Mohseni S, et al. Small bowel obstruction outcomes according to compliance with the World Society of Emergency Surgery Bologna guidelines. Br J Surg. 2025;112(4):znaf080. doi:10.1093/bjs/znaf080
T Chand J, R R, Ganesh MS. Adult intussusception: a systematic review of current literature. Langenbecks Arch Surg. 2024;409(1):235. doi:10. 1007/s00423-024-03429-2
Wong L, Sivanesan U, Haider M, Chung AD. Intraluminal causes of mechanical small bowel obstruction: CT findings and diagnostic approach. Eur J Radiol. 2025;187:112115. doi:10.1016/j.ejrad.2025.112115
Sarma D, Prabhu R, Rodrigues G. Adult intussusception: a six-year experience at a single center. Ann Gastroenterol. 2012;25(2):128-132.
Chiam KH, Sannasey S, Rajaintharan S, Muthukaruppan R. Atypical endoscopic finding of colocolic intussusception: case report and literature review. Ann Transl Med. 2022;10(23):1290. doi:10.21037/atm-2022-61
Duc VT, Chien PC, Huyen LDM, et al. Differentiation between surgical and nonsurgical intussusception: a diagnostic model using multi-detector computed tomography. Acta Inform Med. 2021;29(1):32-37. doi: 10.5455/aim.2021.29.32-37

Sun M, Li Z, Shu Z, Wu Q, Liu X. Adult intussusception: a challenge to laparoscopic surgery? PeerJ. 2022;10:e14495. doi:10.7717/peerj.14495
Negametzyanov M, Smith CR, Ypsilantis E. Ileo-colic intussusception: a rare cause of intestinal obstruction in adults. J Surg Case Rep. 2025; 2025(9):rjaf723. doi:10.1093/jscr/rjaf723
Hong KD, Kim J, Ji W, Wexner SD. Adult intussusception: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Tech Coloproctol. 2019;23(4):315-324. doi:10. 1007/s10151-019-01980-5
Álvarez-Bautista FE, Moctezuma-Velázquez P, Pimienta-Ibarra AS, Vergara-Fernández O, Salgado-Nesme N. Adult intussusception: still a challenging diagnosis for the surgeon. Rev Gastroenterol Mex (Engl Ed). 2023;88(4):315-321. doi:10.1016/j.rgmxen.2022.06.009
Marsicovetere P, Ivatury SJ, White B, Holubar SD. Intestinal intussusception: etiology, diagnosis, and treatment. Clin Colon Rectal Surg. 2017;30(1):30-39. doi:10.1055/s-0036-1593429
Panzera F, Di Venere B, Rizzi M, et al. Bowel intussusception in adult: prevalence, diagnostic tools and therapy. World J Methodol. 2021;11(3): 81-87. doi:10.5662/wjm.v11.i3.81
Wahid T, Paneru M, Escalante A, Fenton KB. A rare presentation of adult intussusception. Cureus. 2025;17(9):e91419. doi:10.7759/cureus.91419
Tang Y, Cui X, Zhao Z, Chen Y, Dai B, Luo F. Rare invasive inflammatory fibroid polyp presenting as small bowel intussusception: two case reports and review of the literature. Medicine (Baltimore). 2025;104(13):e41956. doi:10.1097/MD.0000000000041956
Cassimatis C, O'Reilly P, Taba AT. Evaluating the utility of different radiographic imaging modalities for assessing intussusception, Crohn's Disease and adenocarcinoma to the small bowel: a systematic review. J Med Imaging Radiat Sci. 2025;56(6):102126. doi:10.1016/j.jmir.2025.102126
Devkota S, Rathi H, Qadri AI, Lamichhane S, Jain N. Adult ileo-ileal intussusception caused by inflammatory fibroid polyp leading to small bowel obstruction: a case report with comprehensive literature review. J Surg Case Rep. 2024;2024(8):rjae480. doi:10.1093/jscr/rjae480
Hadid T, Elazzamy H, Kafri Z. Bowel intussusception in adults: think cancer! Case Rep Gastroenterol. 2020;14(1):27-33. doi:10.1159/000505511
Onkendi EO, Grotz TE, Murray JA, Donohue JH. Adult intussusception in the last 25 years of modern imaging: is surgery still indicated? J Gastrointest Surg. 2011;15(10):1699-1705. doi:10.1007/s11605-011-1609-4
Siow SL, Goo ZQ, Mahendran HA, Wong CM. Laparoscopic versus open management of adult intussusception. Surg Endosc. 2020;34(10):4429-4435. doi:10.1007/s00464-019-07220-z
Saeed R, Hassan M, Tul-Zahra F, Neary P. Ileo-ileal intussusception due to inflammatory fibroid polyp: a rare cause of small bowel obstruction in adults. J Surg Case Rep. 2022;2022(6):rjac303. doi:10.1093/jscr/rjac303
Garmpis N, Damaskos C, Garmpi A, et al. Inflammatory fibroid polyp of the gastrointestinal tract: a systematic review for a benign tumor. In Vivo. 2021;35(1):81-93. doi:10.21873/invivo.12235
Guerci C, Colombo F, Goi G, Zerbi P, Pirrò B, Danelli P. Case report: ileo-ileal intussusception secondary to inflammatory fibroid polyp: a rare cause of intestinal obstruction. Front Surg. 2022;9:876396. doi:10. 3389/fsurg.2022.876396
Sánchez MM, Domínguez-Prieto V, Qian Zhang S, et al. Inflammatory fibroid polyp (Vanek's tumor): a retrospective multicentric analysis of 67 cases. Cancers (Basel). 2025;17(7):1209. doi:10.3390/cancers17071209
Liu TC, Lin MT, Montgomery EA, Singhi AD. Inflammatory fibroid polyps of the gastrointestinal tract: spectrum of clinical, morphologic, and immunohistochemistry features. Am J Surg Pathol. 2013;37(4):586-592. doi:10.1097/PAS.0b013e31827ae11e
Maccagno A, Sander B, Dintner S, Harloff M, Füzesi L, Märkl B. Inflammatory fibroid polyp: a series of 29 cases and a systematic review of the literature. Hum Pathol Rep. 2023;32:300703. doi:10.1016/j.hpr. 2023.300703
Montes-Arcón PS, Redondo de Oro KT, Cantero-Romero K, Blanco-Pertuz PM, Pérez-Mingan GC. Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor causing intestinal obstruction in older adults due to intestinal intussusception: case report. Rev Gastroenterol Peru. 2023;43(1):69-73.
Sunga CGG, Higgins MS, Ricciotti RW, Liu YJ, Cranmer LD. Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor of the mesentery with a SQSTM1::ALK fusion responding to alectinib. Cancer Rep (Hoboken). 2023;6(3):e1792. doi:10.1002/cnr2.1792
Hirose S, Kaneko T, Yamaura M, et al. Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor of ileum with intussusception in adult. Clin J Gastroenterol. 2020;13(6):1116-1120. doi:10.1007/s12328-020-01179-4
Yagnik VD. ALK 1 negative inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor of the ileum: a rare cause of ileocecal intussusception. Surg J (N Y). 2020;6(2): e101-e104. doi:10.1055/s-0040-1710531
Siemion K, Reszec-Gielazyn J, Kisluk J, Roszkowiak L, Zak J, Korzynska A. What do we know about inflammatory myofibroblastic tumors?-A systematic review. Adv Med Sci. 2022;67(1):129-138. doi:10.1016/j.advms.2022.02.002
Fletcher CDM, Bridge JA, Hogendoorn P, Mertens F. Lyon: IARC Press. WHO Classification of Tumours of Soft Tissue and Bone. 4th ed. 2013.
Choi JH. Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor: an updated review. Cancers (Basel). 2025;17(8):1327. doi:10.3390/cancers17081327
Chmiel P, Słowikowska A, Banaszek Ł, et al. Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor from molecular diagnostics to current treatment. Oncol Res. 2024;32(7):1141-1162. doi:10.32604/or.2024.050350
Zhang Q, Zhang ZW, Fan J, Ji ZM, Wang CY, Liu F. Clinical diagnosis and treatment of abdominal inflammatory myofibroblastic tumors. Discov Oncol. 2025;16(1):554. doi:10.1007/s12672-025-02343-3
Ali SM, Ahmed AA, Saaid LAH, et al. Heterotopic gastric mucosa presenting as lower gastrointestinal bleeding: an unusual case report. Case Rep Surg. 2019;2019:5791984. doi:10.1155/2019/5791984
Aslanabadi S, Badebarin D, Ghavifekr NH, Ghasemi B, Shoaran M, Hesari M. Polypoid heterotopic gastric mucosa: in terminal ileum causing extensive lower gastrointestinal bleeding without Meckel's diverticulum: a case report. J Med Case Rep. 2024;18(1):357. doi:10.1186/s13256-024-04644-7
Suhardja TS, Kua H, Hrabovszky Z. Helicobacter pylori colonisation in heterotopic gastric mucosa in meckel diverticulum: case report and review of the literature. Clin Med Insights Case Rep. 2019;12: 1179547619846088. doi:10.1177/1179547619846088
Cai J, Yu H. Giant polypoid gastric heterotopia in the small intestine in a boy: a case report and literature review. Medicine (Baltimore). 2017; 96(1):e5854. doi:10.1097/MD.0000000000005854

Details

Primary Language

English

Subjects

General Surgery

Journal Section

Research Article

Authors

Murat Demir ^*
0000-0003-3097-1441
Türkiye

Baki Ekçi
0000-0001-9360-6746
Türkiye

Sadık Peker
0009-0009-1134-3360
Türkiye

Beste Noyan Mod
0000-0003-3305-9466
Türkiye

Hüseyin Kılavuz
0000-0001-8860-0630
Türkiye

Publication Date

March 12, 2026

Submission Date

January 5, 2026

Acceptance Date

February 11, 2026

Published in Issue

Year 2026 Volume: 9 Number: 2

DOI

https://doi.org/10.32322/jhsm.1856273

IZ

https://izlik.org/JA46CP43MW

Cite

RIS / Bibtex

APA

Demir, M., Ekçi, B., Peker, S., Noyan Mod, B., & Kılavuz, H. (2026). A rare cause of small bowel obstruction: small bowel polyps—a five year retrospective surgical study. Journal of Health Sciences and Medicine, 9(2), 441-446. https://doi.org/10.32322/jhsm.1856273

AMA

1.Demir M, Ekçi B, Peker S, Noyan Mod B, Kılavuz H. A rare cause of small bowel obstruction: small bowel polyps—a five year retrospective surgical study. J Health Sci Med / JHSM. 2026;9(2):441-446. doi:10.32322/jhsm.1856273

Chicago

Demir, Murat, Baki Ekçi, Sadık Peker, Beste Noyan Mod, and Hüseyin Kılavuz. 2026. “A Rare Cause of Small Bowel Obstruction: Small Bowel Polyps—a Five Year Retrospective Surgical Study”. Journal of Health Sciences and Medicine 9 (2): 441-46. https://doi.org/10.32322/jhsm.1856273.

EndNote

Demir M, Ekçi B, Peker S, Noyan Mod B, Kılavuz H (March 1, 2026) A rare cause of small bowel obstruction: small bowel polyps—a five year retrospective surgical study. Journal of Health Sciences and Medicine 9 2 441–446.

IEEE

[1]M. Demir, B. Ekçi, S. Peker, B. Noyan Mod, and H. Kılavuz, “A rare cause of small bowel obstruction: small bowel polyps—a five year retrospective surgical study”, J Health Sci Med / JHSM, vol. 9, no. 2, pp. 441–446, Mar. 2026, doi: 10.32322/jhsm.1856273.

ISNAD

Demir, Murat - Ekçi, Baki - Peker, Sadık - Noyan Mod, Beste - Kılavuz, Hüseyin. “A Rare Cause of Small Bowel Obstruction: Small Bowel Polyps—a Five Year Retrospective Surgical Study”. Journal of Health Sciences and Medicine 9/2 (March 1, 2026): 441-446. https://doi.org/10.32322/jhsm.1856273.

JAMA

1.Demir M, Ekçi B, Peker S, Noyan Mod B, Kılavuz H. A rare cause of small bowel obstruction: small bowel polyps—a five year retrospective surgical study. J Health Sci Med / JHSM. 2026;9:441–446.

MLA

Demir, Murat, et al. “A Rare Cause of Small Bowel Obstruction: Small Bowel Polyps—a Five Year Retrospective Surgical Study”. Journal of Health Sciences and Medicine, vol. 9, no. 2, Mar. 2026, pp. 441-6, doi:10.32322/jhsm.1856273.

Vancouver

1.Murat Demir, Baki Ekçi, Sadık Peker, Beste Noyan Mod, Hüseyin Kılavuz. A rare cause of small bowel obstruction: small bowel polyps—a five year retrospective surgical study. J Health Sci Med / JHSM. 2026 Mar. 1;9(2):441-6. doi:10.32322/jhsm.1856273