A 75-year-old man who tried enema for persisting constipation had an abrupt onset of abdominal pain and was referred to the hospital. When he was first seen, perforation of the lower digestive tract was diagnosed based on abdominal symptoms and various imaging findings, and an emergency operation was performed. Upon laparotomy, free perforation 2cm in diameter was indentified on the ventral aspect of the sigmoid colon and rectum. Drainage and Hartmann operation were thus done. On the 20
th postoperative day after an uneventful postoperative course, fever developed and persisted thereafter. Despite every close exploration, we could not clarify the origin of the fever and considered it as fever of unknown origin. Venous echography of the lower extremities conducted on the 38
th postoperative day disclosed deep vein thrombosis of the soleal vein. Anticoagulant therapy resulted in disappearance of thrombosis as well as dramatic fall of the fever.
Although deep vein thrombosis can be fatal if pulmonary infarct is once associated, it is a current status where exploration of the presence is barely performed. When we encounter fever of unknown origin, deep vein thrombosis of the lower extremities must be kept in mind as a probable cause.
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