Postoperative Drain Site Seeding to the Abdominal Wall of Sigmoid Adenocarcinoma: A Case Report and Literature Review

Colorectal carcinoma (CRC) is a very common cancer found worldwide. When metastasizing, it would often seed the liver via traveling through the portal circulation; however, locoregional metastasis is also possible. Abdominal wall seeding postoperatively has been described to happen rarely in those who underwent definitive surgery for CRC. Currently, five case reports are in publication describing this phenomenon. Here, we present a case of a drain site abdominal wall tumor recurrence after definitive surgery with curative intent of a sigmoid adenocarcinoma. Those with higher tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) staging and a primary site at the sigmoid colon were found to be at a higher risk for recurrence. Despite this, abdominal wall recurrence of CRC is exceptionally rare, with less than 1% of those with locoregional recurrence presenting at the incision site or trocar site placement. Because of the rarity of this complication, few studies are available that detail the management of abdominal wall recurrence of CRC. Further studies on this subject are currently warranted.