Condition Lookup

Start typing to search for a specific condition, or select a specialty to see all of its conditions

Sub-Category:

Mesenteric Ischemia

Specialty: Emergency and Urgent Care

Category: Gastrointestinal Emergencies

Sub-category: Vascular GI Conditions

Symptoms:
sudden severe abdominal pain; nausea; vomiting; diarrhea; blood in stool; abdominal distension

Root Cause:
Reduced or completely obstructed blood flow to the intestines due to arterial embolism, arterial thrombosis, or venous thrombosis.

How it's Diagnosed: videos
Clinical history and physical exam, blood tests (elevated lactate levels), imaging studies (CT angiography is the gold standard).

Treatment:
Immediate resuscitation, anticoagulation (e.g., heparin), thrombolysis, and surgical intervention to remove occlusion or resect necrotic bowel.

Medications:
Anticoagulants like heparin (unfractionated or low-molecular-weight), thrombolytics like alteplase (tissue plasminogen activator), and vasodilators like papaverine (to improve blood flow).

Prevalence: How common the health condition is within a specific population.
Rare but life-threatening, affecting approximately 0.1-0.2% of hospital admissions; more common in elderly individuals.

Risk Factors: Factors or behaviors that increase the likelihood of developing the condition.
Atrial fibrillation, heart failure, atherosclerosis, recent abdominal surgery, hypercoagulable states.

Prognosis: The expected outcome or course of the condition over time.
Poor if not treated promptly; mortality rates can exceed 70% for acute cases with bowel necrosis.

Complications: Additional problems or conditions that may arise as a result of the original condition.
Bowel infarction, perforation, sepsis, multi-organ failure.