• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.86-91
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• 2010

Retroperitoneal cystic lymphangiomas are benign, extremely rare tumors. Although surgical resection is the treatment of choice, sclerotherapy should be considered initially. A 9-year-old boy was admitted due do worsening abdominal pain of 4 days duration. Serial complete blood counts revealed a hemoglobin level of 12.8 g/dL on admission to 10.6 g/dL on hospital day 3. An abdominal computed tomography (CT) scan showed a large, lobulated, septated, retroperitoneal cystic mass ($10{\times}9.5{\times}5cm$) in the left anterior pararenal space with intracystic hemorrhage surrounding the inferior mesenteric vein (IMV). Because of the high operative risk, we performed a tubogram of the cystic mass, percutaneous catheter drainage (PCD), and ethanol sclerotherapy. The follow-up abdominal CT scan showed that the cystic mass had decreased in size. He is well without relapse of the retroperitoneal cystic mass for 13 months after discharge. Sclerotherapy with PCD should be considered as initial therapy for patients with retroperitoneal cystic lymphangiomas at high surgical risk.