Colorectal cancer during pregnancy is very rare with the reported incidence of between 0.001-0.1%. The prognosis is poor due to delayed diagnosis and secondary advanced disease. Acute abdomen due to sigmoid colon tumor is extremely rare. We report two cases presenting with ileus due to sigmoid colon cancer during pregnancy.
Two women 35 and 32 years old with 32nd and 27th week of pregnancy respectively, presented with abdominal pain, obstructive symptoms and ileus. Exploratory laparotomy revealed obstructive sigmoid colon cancer in both. Extended mesocolon dissection was not possible in one of the cases due to enlarged size of the uterus. In the same case lumen of the colon was filled with polipoid lesions.
Acute abdomen due to sigmoid colon tumor in pregnancy is extremely rare and the tumor can be easily missed if a complete routine exploration of the abdomen is not performed during surgery. Currently a high index of clinical suspicion is the only way to make the diagnosis.
Keywords: Pregnancy, colon cancer, poliposis, ileus