Open AccessMassive small bowel bleeding caused by scrub typhus in Korea
Author(s) -
Ki Beom Bae,
Won Hwa Youn,
Youn Jae Lee,
Soo Jin Jung,
Kwan Hee Hong
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
world journal of gastrointestinal surgery
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 1948-9366
DOI - 10.4240/wjgs.v2.i2.47
Subject(s) - medicine , hematochezia , scrub typhus , eschar , surgery , colonoscopy , doxycycline , rash , orientia tsutsugamushi , typhus , gastroenterology , dermatology , antibiotics , colorectal cancer , pathology , virology , cancer , microbiology and biotechnology , biology
A 79-year-old man was diagnosed with scrub typhus based on fever, eschar, skin rash and a markedly elevated serum tsutsugamushi antibody and doxycycline was started. Five days later, hematochezia developed and multiple small bowel ulcerations with hemorrhage were seen on colonoscopy. Despite intensive therapy, the massive hematochezia worsened and the distal small bowel was resected. Multiple ulcerated lesions were identified pathologically as vasculitis caused by scrub typhus. This is the first reported case of pathologically proven small bowel involvement in scrub typhus infection.