Successful treatment with hyperbaric oxygen therapy for pneumatosis cystoides intestinalis as a complication of granulomatosis with polyangiitis: a case report

BACKGROUND: Although gastrointestinal involvement in patients with granulomatosis with polyangiitis is uncommon, it is associated with mild to severe life-threatening complications. We present a case of pneumatosis cystoides intestinalis in a patient with granulomatosis with polyangiitis that was treated successfully with hyperbaric oxygen. CASE PRESENTATION: A 70-year-old Japanese man with a 3-year history of granulomatosis with polyangiitis consulted our hospital with a complaint of severe back pain. Computed tomography showed a large amount of gas located in his bowel wall and mesentery. He underwent urgent exploratory laparotomy, which led to a diagnosis of pneumatosis cystoides intestinalis without intestinal perforation or necrosis. He consequently underwent 13 sessions of hyperbaric oxygen therapy and was discharged from our hospital without complications. CONCLUSIONS: Several previous reports have supported the efficacy of hyperbaric oxygen for treating pneumatosis cystoides intestinalis. The present case, however, is the first in which pneumatosis cystoides intestinalis in a patient with granulomatosis with polyangiitis was successfully treated with hyperbaric oxygen. We therefore suggest that hyperbaric oxygen therapy could be a candidate treatment for pneumatosis cystoides intestinalis in patients with granulomatosis with polyangiitis.