Case report highlights bowel obstruction due to invasive urothelial carcinoma in an older woman, indicating rare intestinal involvement.
Intestinal involvement by urothelial malignancy is uncommon and can obscure the primary diagnosis. We report a woman in her 70s who presented with shock, profound anemia, acute kidney injury, and bilateral hydronephrosis caused by a necrotic pelvic mass suspected to arise from the bladder. Despite resuscitation and urinary decompression, she developed abdominal distention, rising lactate levels, and respiratory decline. Exploratory laparotomy revealed combined small- and large-bowel obstruction with ischemic bowel caused by an invasive pelvic mass. Pathology from the resected small bowel showed poorly differentiated urothelial carcinoma with basal/squamous features. This case highlights an unusual presentation of advanced urothelial malignancy.
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Gabrielyan et al. (2026) studied this question.
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