Occlusive mesenteric infarction. A retrospective study of 83 cases.

Acute mesenteric infarction was diagnosed clinically or post mortem in 83 patients over a 10 years period in 4 surgical departments. The present study is concerned with 56 of these patients who suffered occlusive disease of the mesenteric vessels and on whom sufficient data were available. Of these 17, patients had presented at least one symptom of chronic intestinal ischemia before the fatal exacerbation. Of 42 patients treated surgically 14 had operations with curative intend and 3 patients, all with venous thrombosis, survived after small bowel resection. Only 19 percent of the patients who underwent surgery were treated within 24 hours after onset of symptoms. Early diagnosis promptly followed by surgery might save some patients. A radical improvement of survival rate can however no be expected for the acute cases. More attention should be paid to the syndrome of abdominal angina, as elective arterial reconstruction in patients with chronic intestinal ischemia carries a low mortality and renders satisfactory results.