Abstract

Angiodysplasia (AD) of the colon is an important cause of lower gastrointestinal hemorrhage in the elderly, but it is extremly rare in children. Endoscopic thermal coagulation has been generally performed as the first line treatment for AD in adults patients. However, as far as we know use of this treatment has not been reported in children.

Herein we present a case of a 5-year-old boy who presented with lower gastrointestinal bleeding. His physical examination was unremarkable except for rectal hemorrhagia. Laboratory investigations revealed a normal complete blood cell count. Results of abdominal ultrasonography and Meckel scintigraphy were normal. We decided to perform colonoscopy. During colonoscopy at the level of hepatic flexure and transverse colon, we saw hemorrhagic AD focuses. In addition to this colonoscopy, AD was treated with argon plasma coagulation. The patient returned to his normal diet after the operation and discharged from the hospital one day later.

AD of the colon is very rare in childhood. In addition to this, in these cases generally surgery is chosen for treatment. In our patient we performed a minimally invasive technique, namely endoscopic argon plasma coagulation. Depending on our experience, we recommend endoscopic argon plasma coagulation to be performed by expericienced endoscopic surgeons as the first-line treatment for acute hemorrhagic anjiodysplasias.