Difficulties in the Radiation Diagnosis of Acute Mesenteric Thrombosis in Patients with Chronic Critical Illness

Abstract

Acute mesenteric ischemia is an acute disruption of blood supply to part of the intestine, which, if untreated, leads to bowel wall necrosis and a patient’s death. Computed tomography (CT) plays a leading role in detecting mesenteric ischemia and in making the initial diagnosis, especially in patients with chronic critical illness, when productive contact is impossible. The final diagnosis is established during surgery or postmortem examination. Timely diagnosis and surgical treatment are a basic tool to reduce high mortality rates from this disease. The article presents the possibilities of CT in imaging and making the primary diagnosis of mesenteric ischemia and mesenteric thrombosis.

Keywords

• computed tomography
• mesenteric ischemia
• mesenteric thrombosis
• bowel wall necrosis