BACKGROUND: Enteric duplication cysts are rare congenital anomalies. They are lined by gastrointestinal mucosa, connected to the digestive tract, and share smooth muscle layers and a common blood supply. In rare cases, duplication cysts are isolated from the digestive tract and have a unique blood supply. No patient with isolated duplication cysts that are located in the retroperitoneum and associated with an accessory pancreatic lobe at the onset have been reported to date.
METHODS: A 10-year-old Asian boy complained of left upper abdominal pain for more than 3 months. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography showed that the main pancreatic duct in the tail of the pancreas was dilated. A soft tissue density shadow was observed around the tail of the pancreas. The lesion was connected to the main pancreatic duct and the blood was supplied from a branch of the splenic artery. Surgical exploration and pathologic specimens resulted in the diagnosis of an isolated retroperitoneal enteric duplication cyst associated with an accessory pancreatic lobe. The patient received treatments of rehydration, antibiotics, and protease inhibitors. Due to the poor conservative treatment effect in internal medicine, a surgical resection of abnormal tissue was performed.
RESULTS: The boy did not have abdominal pain again in the first year after leaving the hospital.
CONCLUSIONS: For repeated abdominal pain in young people, especially in children, an enteric duplication cyst needs to be ruled out. This case was difficult to diagnose and imaging examination was not able to determine whether it is located in the anterior peritoneum or the retroperitoneum. For such cases, surgical exploration is necessary, and surgical resection can achieve more satisfactory results.