[Obscure gastrointestinal bleeding due to gastrointestinal stromal tumors].

BACKGROUND: The gastrointestinal stromal tumours (GIST) are the most common soft tissue sarcomas of the digestive tract. They are usually found in the stomach (60-70%) and small intestine (25-30%) and, less commonly, in the oesophagus, mesentery, colon, or rectum. The symptoms present at diagnosis are, gastrointestinal bleeding, abdominal pain, abdominal mass, or intestinal obstruction. The type of symptomatology will depend on the location and size of the tumour. The definitive diagnosis is histopathological, with 95% of the tumours being positive for CD117.

CLINICAL CASES: This is an observational and descriptive study of 5cases of small intestinal GIST that presented with gastrointestinal bleeding as the main symptom. The period from the initial symptom to the diagnosis varied from 1 to 84 months. The endoscopy was inconclusive in all of the patients, and the diagnosis was made using computed tomography and angiography. Treatment included resection in all patients. The histopathological results are also described.

CONCLUSION: GIST can have multiple clinical pictures and unusual symptoms, such as obscure gastrointestinal bleeding. The use of computed tomography and angiography has shown to be an important tool in the diagnosis with patients with small intestine GISTs.