Sclerosing mesenteritis as a rare cause of abdominal pain and intraabdominal mass: a cases report and review of the literature

Sclerosing mesenteritis is a rare, benign, and chronic fibrosing inflammation disease with unknown etiology that affects the mesentery of small bowel and colon. The disease has two well-established histological types: the acute or subacute form known as mesenteric panniculitis and the chronic form known as retractile or sclerosing mesenteritis. Because the sclerosing mesenteritis is lack of special clinical manifestation and typical signs, so the patients are very easy to be misdiagnosed. The correct diagnosis of sclerosing mesenteritis depends on pathological examination and exploratory laparotomy. We report a case of sclerosing mesenteritis in a 52-year-old male who presented with chronic abdominal pain and intraabdominal mass. This patient had a long-term and heavy drinking history. He was misdiagnosed as celiac teratoma by CT examination and then underwent an exploratory laparotomy at March 2 2004. A mass, its diameter being about 5 cm, was detected in mesentery of distal ileum. Although a few small intestines tightly adhered on the mass, the involved intestine had no obstruction. The intraoperative biopsy indicated that it was an inflammatory mass. The mass and adhered intestines were removed. He was diagnosed with sclerosing mesenteritis by histopathological examination of paraffin section. After operation, this patient went well and lives without recrudescence at the time we wrote this paper.