Diagnostics and surgical treatment strategy for rectal cavernous hemangiomas based on three case examples

A 20-year-old man with a congenital vascular malformation extending from the anal canal into the distal sigmoid had had recurrent perianal blood loss as a neonate. A hemangioma was diagnosed for the first time in 1978. The patient received regular and frequent gastroenterological treatment until admission. Decisive for the indication for surgery was the patient’s need for blood infusions and shorter bleeding intervals in June 1998. Surgical therapy consisted of deep anterior rectosigmoid resection with coloanal pouch anastomosis. In a second case of a 27-year-old woman a sigmoid hemangioma was diagnosed in conjunction with emergency sigmoid resectioning. Because of recurrent hemorrhages a coloanal pouch was also established here in a second step. The third case involved a 19-year-old woman with a 12-year history of repeated perianal hemorrhages. After sigmoid discontinuity resection we carried out proctectomy with descendostoma creation due to renewed severe intractable perianal bleeding. The histological examination revealed a rectal hemangioma that had caused the repeated perianal hemorrhages. Surgical reconstruction was then achieved by coloanal pouch anastomosis. In view of the good functional and perioperative results, current surgical therapy should aim at preserving continuity and continence by coloanal pouch anastomosis. Accepted: 12 November 1999