Neutropenic Enterocolitis in a Child with Acute Myeloid Leukemia Successfully Treated with Early Surgical Intervention

• DOI: 10.1007/s12288-012-0176-5
• Publication Date: 2012-07-15T23:36:37Z
• Authors: Arun Kumar Lingutla; Asha S. Anand; Sandip A. Shah; Apurva A. Patel; Sumit Kumar; Pankaj M. Shah; Shilin N. Shukla; Bharat J. Parikh; Shailesh S. Talati; Harsha Panchal; Sonia Parikh; Bhavesh B. Parekh; Shivani J. Bhatt
• Keywords: Exploratory laparotomy; Necrotizing Enterocolitis; Hematology

Neutropenic entrocolitis (NE) is a life threatening complication of acute leukemia. The case presented here is of a 12 year old boy with acute myeloid leukemia, who developed neutropenic enterocolitis after induction with BFM-93 protocol. Patient underwent exploratory laparotomy during grade 4 neutropenia after failure on conservative line of management of NE. Patient withstood the procedure with supportive care and recovered. This case is reported because NE is a rare but potentially fatal complication and there are no clear guidelines for surgical intervention.