Abstract
Aberrant rests of pancreatic tissue can be found throughout the gastrointestinal system and are known as pancreatic heterotopia or ectopic pancreas (EP). Authors report a 12-year-old girl with jejunal EP with a long-lasting history of sporadic bilious vomiting. Upper gastrointestinal (GI) study showed delayed passage beyond duodeno-jejunal junction. During laparotomy a 2x2 cm mass was encountered on the mesenteric border of the jejunum, 3 cm distal to the ligament of Treitz. Histopathologic examination revealed pancreatic tissue. The mass was excised and end-to-end anastomosis was performed. Postoperative course of the patient was uneventful and she is doing well after 10 months. Intestinal obstruction due to EP has been reported to occur only if it causes intussusception. Intestinal obstruction without intussusception due to jejunal EP has not been reported. In our case, the EP tissue was located just beneath the mucosa and involved the muscular layer. The foreign body effect of the EP tissue involving the muscular layer may cause dysmotility and/or local spasm, which we think were responsible for the long-lasting sporadic bilious vomiting in our patient.
Copyright and license
Copyright © 2003 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.