Soonchunhyang Med Sci.  2013 Dec;19(2):149-152.

A Case of Acute Gastric Pneumatosis Associated with Advanced Pancreatic Cancer

• Han DJ
• Park HS
• Rhee HS
• Park JM
• Kim JH
• Lee KT
• Jung YH

Abstract

Pneumatosis intestinalis (PI) is a rare condition that is characterized by multiple subserosal and submucosal gas-filled areas in the bowel wall. Gastric pneumatosis describes the presence of gas within the stomach wall. This is caused by a disruption in gastric mucosa leading to the dissection of air into the wall. The extract cause of PI is still unknown; however, it may be associated with coexisting disease. Gastric PI has been rarely documented. So, we report on a 75-year-old man with acute gastric pneumatosis following his palliative chemotherapy. He underwent 3rd cycle of gemcitabine and erlotinib 3 weeks prior to admission. The treatment was started with nasogastric tube insertion and parenteral nutrition. Then, gastric pneumatosis was improved. However, the patient was died because of worsening underline disease and general condition. We suggest that chemotherapy should be considered the case of pneumatosis and careful X-ray interpretation will be necessary for detecting the pneumatosis earlier.

Keyword

Chemotherapy; Drug therapya

MeSH Terms

Aged
Drug Therapy
Gastric Mucosa
Humans
Pancreatic Neoplasms*
Parenteral Nutrition
Stomach
Erlotinib Hydrochloride