BACKGROUND: Stoma prolapse is the full-thickness protrusion of bowel through a stoma, which occurs in 2% to 26% of colostomies. However, stoma prolapse complicated by small bowel incarceration is very rare, reported in only 3 cases thus far. To our knowledge, the present case is the first reported case of surgical treatment after preoperative manual reduction for small bowel incarceration.

CASE REPORT: A 74-year-old male who had undergone sigmoid end colostomy in the right lower abdomen by Hartmann’s operation for rectal cancer visited our emergency room complaining of severe stoma prolapse. The prolapse was about 20×15×15 cm in size and showed edematous change. Enhanced computed tomography revealed a loop of the small bowel incarcerated within the prolapsed colostomy. After the severe prolapse was reduced to 15×10×10 cm in size with manual compression for small bowel incarceration, an emergency laparotomy made via a circumferential incision revealed a partially necrotic prolapsed sigmoid colon and 15-cm-long reddish small bowel loop in the abdominal cavity that needed to be preserved. A new sigmoid end colostomy was constructed in the right lower abdomen at the same site as the preoperative stoma.

CONCLUSIONS: It is important to remember that small bowel can herniate into a stoma prolapse, and when encountering the acute presentation of a large stoma prolapse, manual reduction of the incarcerated small bowel may help in selecting elective versus emergency surgery.

Keywords: Colostomy, Emergency Treatment, Intestinal Volvulus, Colon, Sigmoid, Intestinal Obstruction, Laparotomy, Prolapse, Rectal Neoplasms