Stercoral perforation of the sigmoid colon.

While there are less than 100 cases of stercoral perforation of the colon reported in the literature in English to date, we believe that the actual incidence would be higher than reported if accurate diagnostic criteria were employed. Maurer et al.1, in their study, defined the diagnostic criteria for stercoral perforation of the colon as follows: (1) a round or ovoid colonic perforation exceeding 1 cm in diameter and lying antimesenteric; (2) fecalomas present within the colon, protruding through the perforation site or lying within the abdominal cavity; and (3) pressure necrosis or ulcer and a chronic inflammatory reaction around the perforation site microscopically. We report a patient fulfilling these criteria.