Not ery small bowel submucosal mass is a GIST A rare case of small bowel schwannoma.

INTRODUCTION: Schwannomas are slow-growing tumors, rarely occurring in the GI tract. When found, their location is mostly in the stomach. Presentation in the small bowel is extremely rare, anecdotal.

CASE REPORT: We present the case of a 47-year old male who underwent laparoscopic elective left hemicolectomy for recurrent diverticulitis.

RESULTS: At surgery an exophytic mass originating from the first jejunal loop was identified and resected, under the suspicion of a GIST. Post-operative pathologic report was consistent with the diagnosis of jejunal schwannoma. Unfortunately resection margins were positive and the patient was taken back to the OR for an additional jejunal segmental resection.

CONCLUSIONS: GI schwannomas have excellent prognosis after surgical resection. It is important to differentiate them from GISTs, which may have a malignant behavior in 10-30% of the cases. To ensure complete surgical resection with negative margins is mandatory and is the curative treatment of choice.

KEY WORDS: GIST, Jejunum, Submucosa Minimally-invasive surgery, Schwannoma, Small bowel.