Neutropenic enterocolitis in adults. Review of the literature and assessment of surgical intervention.

We have reported two cases of neutropenic enterocolitis (one of them being the first reported case occurring in a patient with multiple myeloma), which is a necrotizing lesion in the gastrointestinal tract that is seen in patients usually on aggressive chemotherapeutic regimens and associated with leukemias, lymphomas, malignant neoplasms, and other disorders in which neutropenia is present. Although once considered to have a dismal prognosis, favorable outcomes have occurred when this clinical entity is recognized early and surgical intervention is undertaken to resect the necrotic portion of the gastrointestinal tract. A review of the literature is included that encompasses adult patients with this syndrome.