Aim of the study: Is to review the clinical characteristics, pathologic features, and surgical management of 
gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) treated at a single tertiary hospital.
Methods: From 2002 to 2012, 25 patients treated by surgical excision of GISTs. Data on patients' age, sex, 
tumor location, tumor size, presenting symptoms, type of surgery and complications were collected.
Results: In the first 5 years of this study, only six cases of GISTs were diagnosed. Mean patients' age was 53.9 
years. The male/ female ratio was 15/10. Sixteen cases (64%) were gastric GISTs, eight cases (32%) were 
small bowel GISTs. The most common presenting symptoms were GIT bleeding (32%) and abdominal pain 
(32%). Surgical resection included partial gastrectomy in 15 patients (60%), segmental jejuno-ileal resection in 
6 patients (24%). GIST of the Mickel's diverticulum was reported in one patient and treated by ileal resection. 
One patient underwent wedge resection of the duodenum with Roux-en-Y duodenojejunostomy. 
Gastrectomy combined with colectomy was done in one case. 
Conclusion: There is modest increase in GISTs diagnosed over the last several years due to improved 
diagnostic criteria. GISTs occur most frequently in the stomach followed by the small intestine, and may be 
found in rare sites as Meckel's diverticulum and duodenum. Surgical treatment is usually partial or 
segmental resection; however, larger tumors may require en bloc resection of adjacent organs.