Sclerosing encapsulating peritonitis as a rare cause of intestinal obstruction after the treatment of peritoneal mesothelioma: a case report and review of the literature

Sclerosing encapsulating peritonitis (SEP) is a rare cause of intestinal obstruction that is characterized by a thick greyish-white fibrotic membrane encasing the small bowel. The clinical features are typically nonspecific, and they occasionally present with recurrent episodes of incomplete or complete intestinal obstruction. The etiology of SEP remains unclear, and the diagnosis is often delayed mainly due to the lack of specific symptoms. Here, we first report a patient who suffered from SEP after treatment for malignant mesothelioma (MM) with tumor resection supplemented with hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) once and intraperitoneal chemotherapy (IPC) eight times. The patient was discharged ten days after surgery and was free of complications at the 4-month follow-up. In addition, we reviewed the published literature from PubMed, only 7 articles of 16 cases finally met the defined requirements. Nine cases of SEP after IPC and 7 cases of SEP after HIPEC were previously reported. We synthetically review the pathogenesis, treatments, and outcomes. In conclusion, SEP is a rare abdominal disease, which is difficult to diagnose preoperatively. CT scanning is the most helpful imaging method for the diagnosis of SEP. Surgery is the most effective method for diagnosis and treatment, if conservative treatment has no effect or abdominal symptoms are aggravated.