A 57-year-old man with chronic kidney disease and a history of using numerous herbal medications visited Inje University Ilsan Paik Hospital for abdominal pain and vomiting. An abdominal radiograph showed diffuse small bowel distension containing multiple air-fluid levels and extensive calcifications along the colon. Computed tomography showed colon wall thickening with diffuse calcification along the colonic mesenteric vein and colonic wall. Colonoscopy, performed without bowel preparation, showed bluish edematous mucosa from the transverse to the distal sigmoid colon, with multiple scar changes. At the mid transverse colon, a stricture was noted and the scope could not pass through. A biopsy of the stricture site revealed nonspecific changes. The patient was diagnosed with phlebosclerotic colitis. After the colonoscopy, the obstructive ileus spontaneously resolved, and the patient was discharged without an operation. Currently, after 2 months of follow-up, the patient has remained asymptomatic. Herein, we report the rare case of an obstructive ileus caused by phlebosclerotic colitis with a colon stricture.
Keywords: Herbal medicine; Ileus; Phlebosclerosis; Phlebosclerotic colitis.