Acute necrotizing amebic colitis is an uncommon but life threatening development with a
high mortality rate, even when properly diagnosed and treated. We report six cases of acute
necrotizing amebic colitis, none of which were diagnosed preoperatively. At operation, five
of the six patients had friable, necrotic, and gangrenous colon. A right hemicolectomy with
ileostomy was performed in two patients and a subtotal colectomy with ileostomy was
performed in four patients. Five of the six patients died within 4 weeks of operation. The sole …