Case seriesPatients: Male, 33 • Male, 18 • Male, 19Final Diagnosis: Congenital band causing a small bowel obstructionSymptoms: Progressive abdominal pain that eventually becomes excessiveMedication: —Clinical Procedure: Laparoscopic band removalSpecialty: SurgeryObjective:Rare diseaseBackground:Among the causes of constipation are bands and adhesions that lead to obstructions at different points in the intestinal tract. These can occur as a consequence of healing following surgery or trauma. However, an entity known as congenital band exists where a band is present from birth. Here we report three such cases of adults with symptoms of intestinal obstruction, in whom a congenital band was discovered through exploratory laparoscopy.Case Reports:All three of these patients presented lacking a history of any abdominal trauma or previous abdominal surgeries, a fact that is often used to exclude an adhesion as a differential. All three recovered quickly and had relief of their symptoms following surgical intervention.Conclusions:Bands and adhesions are common surgical causes of small bowel obstruction, leading to symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, constipation, and obstipation. These bands almost always result from a prior abdominal surgery or from a recent abdominal trauma. The three cases presented here show a far more unusual picture of a band, one that is congenitally present, as there was an absence of such a history. This is significant because clinical suspicion of a band is often very low due to a lack of distinguishing clinical and diagnostic features, and when the past history is negative.

Patient: Male, 45Final Diagnosis: Mesenteric fibromatosisSymptoms: —Medication: —Clinical Procedure: Surgical removal of the mesenteric fibromatosisSpecialty: SurgeryObjective:Rare diseaseBackground:Mesenteric fibromatosis, also known as mesenteric desmoids, is part of the clinical-pathologic spectrum of deep fibromatosis, which encompasses a group of benign fibro-proliferative processes that are locally aggressive and have the capacity to infiltrate or recur without metastasis.Case Report:Case of a 45-year-old man, with a history of hypertension and lung fibrosis, presenting for a left abdominal mass, which was found incidentally during his lung fibrosis imaging. He complained of constipation due to pressure upon his bowel leading to difficulty in defecation.Conclusions:Although there are many overlapping criteria between gastrointestinal stromal tumors and mesenteric fibromatosis, making it difficult to discriminate between the two, there are differences that are unique to mesenteric fibromatosis that should be noticed during the diagnosis. In this case, mesenteric fibromatosis was unusual as it is not associated with Gardner’s syndrome, desmoid tumors, nor familial adenomatous polyposis, but was an incidental finding.

Key Clinical MessageIn any patient, the occurrence of postsplenectomy splenosis can complicate the planning of further surgeries. In our case, the gastric sleeve procedure was aborted, as it would have put the patient's life in danger. Therefore, only the gastric band was removed, eliminating future erosion.