Abstract

Dieulafoy's lesion is a relatively uncommon disease which is minor cause of massive acute lower gastrointestinal bleeding. The lesion comprises mainly of an abnormally exposed submucosal artery associated with a minute mucosal defect on the top in the stomach, and it is a rare cause of profuse but intermittent gastrointestinal bleeding. Less commonly, similar lesions have also been identified in the duodenum, jejunum, colon, and in rare cases, the rectum. In this report, 70 year-old man is described, who has an massive hematochezia from a small rectal mucosal defect with an exposed vessel. Control of the bleeding was successfully achieved with endoscopic band ligation. The fact that rectal Dieulafoy's disease is rare but one of the causes of massive hematochezia should serve as a reminder in the future cases in the elderly. (Korean J Gastrointest Endosc 2004;29:99⁣102)

• Keywords: Dieulafoy's lesion, Rectum, Endoscopic band ligation