Gastrointestinal autonomic nerve tumours – report of a case and review of literature

BACKGROUND: Gastrointestinal autonomic nerve tumours are uncommon stromal tumours of the intestinal tract. They can involve any part of the gastrointestinal system, but are very rarely seen in the rectum. CASE PRESENTATION: We report a unique case of rectal schwannoma with associated synchronous adenocarcinoma of the splenic flexure and adenoma of the descending colon. A 70-year-old patient was admitted with complaint of bleeding per rectum and investigations revealed the presence of a large submucosal rectal lesion in addition to the colonic pathologies. Following panproctocolectomy with permanent spout ileostomy, histopathology and immunohistochemistry confirmed the rectal lesion to be a schwannoma. CONCLUSION: Literature review of the few reported cases has suggested radical surgical excision to be the best approach. Prognosis tends to be favourable after resection.