Carcinoma of the colon without preexisting polyposis or chronic ulcerative colitis is unusual under the age of 40, rare under the age of 30, and almost nonexistent under the age of 20. The present case report is submitted because of the rarity of the condition in a teen-age patient, and because of the controversial method of surgical treatment, namely, the primary radical resection of the unprepared obstructed colon, without complementary colostomy.
None of the references consulted specifcially mentioned such a malignancy in the age decade of the patient. Shallow et al.,7 in their review of 750 cases of colon carcinoma, mention the low age extreme as 16 years. However, their cases of polyposis were not distinguished. Michel's4 youngest patient with carcinoma (not otherwise specified) in 103 reported cases of acute colon obstruction was 13 years old. Sadler and McSwain5 mention their youngest patient among 251 cases of