Mesenteric Ischemia

The often quoted “Time is bowel” is a sentiment that speaks to the danger of this disease and need for diagnosis - Brit Long MD & Alex Koyfman

Mesenteric Ischemia
Mesenteric Ischemia

image by: Hesham Wageh

HWN Recommends

Mesenteric Ischemia: Pearls and Pitfalls

Pearls and Pitfalls

  • Mesenteric ischemia is a time-sensitive diagnosis that, if missed, can lead to bowel necrosis, organ failure, and death.
  • The signs and symptoms of mesenteric ischemia are vague with "pain out of proportion to exam" being the classic presentation.
  • The mortality rate for mesenteric ischemia remains high despite new diagnostic testing.
  • The four causes of mesenteric ischemia are mesenteric artery embolism (commonly due to atrial fibrillation), mesenteric artery thrombosis (commonly due to atherosclerosis), mesenteric vein thrombosis (commonly due to hypercoagulability) and non-occlusive mesenteric ischemia…

read full article

Resources

 Mesenteric Ischemia: Pearls and Pitfalls

In spite of all our technological advances in medicine, mesenteric ischemia remains a very difficult disease process to identify early. Often patients will present with vague and variable signs and symptoms such as poorly localized abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. These non-specific signs and symptoms can be associated with an extremely wide variety of abdominal pathologies including, but not limited to, abdominal aortic aneurysm, volvulus, perforated viscus, incarcerated hernia, appendicitis, biliary colic, and renal colic.

Society for Vascular Surgery

Mesenteric ischemia can come on suddenly or build slowly and become an ongoing health issue. It is part of a systemic disease process known as peripheral vascular disease or peripheral artery disease (PAD).

Acute Mesenteric Ischemia: a Vascular Emergency

This consensus paper was written with the participation of physicians from all of the involved specialties for the purpose of improving outcomes. Mesenteric ischemia must be recognized as a vascular emergency requiring rapid and efficient clinical evaluation and treatment.

Mayo Clinic

Sudden loss of blood flow to the small intestine (acute mesenteric ischemia) from a blood clot requires immediate surgery. Mesenteric ischemia that develops over time (chronic) is treated with angioplasty or open surgery.

Introducing Stitches!

Your Path to Meaningful Connections in the World of Health and Medicine
Connect, Collaborate, and Engage!

Coming Soon - Stitches, the innovative chat app from the creators of HWN. Join meaningful conversations on health and medical topics. Share text, images, and videos seamlessly. Connect directly within HWN's topic pages and articles.


Be the first to know when Stitches starts accepting users


Stay Connected