Everyone Healthy Library
Acute Mesenteric Ischemia
Condition / disease reference page from the Everyone Healthy database.
! Seek urgent medical care if warning signs appear
Some health conditions or symptoms can become urgent. Use this page for education, but seek help quickly if warning signs are present.
Get urgent medical care now if there is any severe, sudden, rapidly worsening or worrying symptom, especially:
- chest pain, pressure or pain spreading to the arm, jaw or back
- trouble breathing, blue lips, severe wheeze or choking
- stroke-like symptoms such as face drooping, arm weakness or speech trouble
- collapse, fainting, seizure, confusion or extreme drowsiness
- severe bleeding, black stools, vomiting blood or major injury
- severe allergic reaction, swelling of the face/throat or widespread rash with breathing trouble
- severe abdominal pain, severe headache, stiff neck or sudden vision change
- signs of severe dehydration, sepsis, high fever with worsening illness, or symptoms in a baby/young child that concern you
Connected health information
Explore this condition in a clear order
Condition overview
Attributes
Commonalityis rare
Critical careis Yes
Linked signs and symptoms
8Each sign/symptom opens its own page and links back to related conditions.
Linked drugs / medications
0No linked drugs are listed yet.
Treatments, therapies and supportive options
2Grouped by treatment type. These are educational database links, not personal treatment recommendations. Evidence labels are shown only where stored in the EH database.
Medical therapy
1Linked diagnostic tests and investigations
8These are pulled from both EH diagnostic-test link tables, including the older large test-link table.
Biological markers/agents
8This visual map shows biological markers/agents reported as increased or decreased with this condition. These are educational relationships only; test results must be interpreted by a qualified clinician because ranges vary by lab, method, age, sex and clinical context.
Often increased
5- Alkaline Phosphatase (ALP)Reference range exampleAdult ( > 16y), Female: 30–125 units/L; Adult ( > 16y), Male: 40–110 units/LLinked diagnostic testsAlkaline Phosphatase (ALP) Concentration
- AmylaseReference range exampleAdult ( > 16y): 25–125 units/LLinked diagnostic testsamylase concentration
- Fecal BloodReference range exampleAll: 0–2 mLLinked diagnostic testsFecal Occult Blood Test
- Lactic Acid (Venous Blood)Reference range exampleAll: 0.5–2.2 mEq/LLinked diagnostic testsLactic Acid Concentration
- LipaseReference range exampleAdult ( > 16y): 10–140 units/LLinked diagnostic testslipase concentration
Often decreased
3- D Xylose (Blood Concentration, 1 Hour Post Administration)Reference range exampleChild (0 - 16y): 20–100 mg/dL; Adult ( > 16y): 20–60 mg/dLLinked diagnostic testsD Xylose Absorption Test (Xylose Tolerance)
- D Xylose (Blood Concentration, 2 Hours Post Administratio)Reference range exampleChild (0 - 16y): 20–60 mg/dL; Adult ( > 16y): 30–60 mg/dLLinked diagnostic testsD Xylose Absorption Test (Xylose Tolerance)
- D Xylose (Urine, Percentage of Total Administered, After 5 Hours)Reference range exampleChild (0 - 16y): 16–32 %; Adult ( > 16y): 16–50 %Linked diagnostic testsD Xylose Absorption Test (Xylose Tolerance)
Introduction / full article
Acute Mesenteric Ischemia
Acute Mesenteric Ischemia
Acute mesenteric ischemia is the sudden disruption of blood flow to the small intestines.
Causes
In many cases, acute mesenteric ischemia is caused by blockage of the arteries, either due to a blood clot, or the accumulation of plaque and fatty deposits.
In other cases, however, it can be caused simply by weakened heart function, decreasing the supply of blood to organs; or by drug-induced constriction of blood vessels.
Generally, adults over the age of 50 years are at greatest risk of acute mesenteric ischemia.
Disease pathway
If left unchecked for longer than ten hours, insufficient oxygen and nutrient supply from the blood may cause necrosis of the affected region, enabling infection by intestinal bacteria. This can, in turn, lead to shock, organ failure and ultimately, death.
Symptoms and diagnosis
Initially, the patient will suffer severe abdominal pain, which abates somewhat when pressure is applied. This disproportionality is a vital characteristic of acute mesenteric ischemia for doctors diagnosing the condition.
Diagnosis can be confirmed by assessing oxygen delivery to the colon, using visible light spectroscopy techniques.
Treatment
If diagnosis is made and treatment commenced in the early stages of acute mesenteric ischemia, patients are likely to recover well. The likelihood of death due to the condition is proportional to the extent of necrosis in the intestine.
Depending on the cause of the blockage, drugs, surgery, or a combination of both can be used to restore normal blood flow to the intestine.