Effective treatment of solitary rectal ulcer syndrome in a 15-year-old boy using argon plasma coagulation

Solitary rectal ulcer syndrome is a chronic, benign lesion of the rectum. Its estimated prevalence is 1 case per 100,000 people per year. It is most frequently diagnosed in young females (in the fourth decade of life; in men it is most commonly diagnosed in the third decade). Reports of solitary rectal ulcer syndrome in children are scarce. Three largest series of pediatric cases include 12, 15 and 22 children. The choice of a therapeutic method for solitary rectal ulcer syndrome depends on the severity of clinical symptoms (including the presence of rectal prolapse) and includes dietary treatment (high-residue diet), topical pharmacological treatment (preparations with sucralfate, glucocorticosteroids, sulfasalazine and mesalazine), endoscopic treatment (argon plasma coagulation) and surgical treatment. The paper presents a case of a 15-year-old boy with solitary rectal ulcer syndrome, who after typical initial conservative treatment was treated endoscopically with one argon plasma coagulation (APC) procedure and presented with macroscopic improvement and subsidence of troublesome clinical symptoms. This is the first case, so far, of a child with solitary rectal ulcer syndrome successfully treated with endoscopy.