Laparoscopic Resection of Ancient Schwannoma of the Small Bowel

Schwannomas are benign neurogenic tumors that arise from Schwann cells that line the sheaths of peripheral nerves. Schwannomas are commonly located in the soft tissues of the head and neck, extremities, mediastinum, retroperitoneum, and pelvis, but they are very rare in the mesentery. We report on the case of an ancient schwannoma of the small bowel arising in a 27-year old asymptomatic woman, which was resected successfully using laparoscopic surgical technique. The aim of this report is to recognize the possibility of schwannomas in the differential diagnosis of abdominal slowly growing tumors.