Superior mesenteric artery thrombosis managed percutaneously by timely combining aspiration thrombectomy with angioplasty and stents

Endovascular Management of Acute and Chronic Mesenteric Ischemia

BACKGROUND

Mesenteric ischemia demands prompt and effective revascularization. Endovascular therapy (EVT) has become a well-established treatment modality with several benefits. This review examines current EVT options for managing acute and chronic mesenteric ischemia (CMI) in contemporary practice.

METHOD

A comprehensive literature review was conducted to evaluate endovascular techniques for mesenteric ischemia, including angioplasty, stenting, thrombectomy, thrombolysis, pharmacological thrombectomy, local vasodilator infusion, and hybrid approaches. We also evaluated access sites and postoperative management.

RESULTS

EVT offers several advantages in the management of mesenteric ischemia, with various access sites and techniques available for single or combined use. EVT has largely replaced open revascularization for CMI and is increasing in use for acute mesenteric ischemia (AMI). The utility of each approach varies by disease chronicity, with different risk-benefit profiles. While short-term outcomes are favorable, long-term patency rates and the need for reinterventions remain concerns. Further research is needed to compare open to endovascular revascularization.

CONCLUSION

EVT provides diverse revascularization options for mesenteric ischemia, particularly for high-risk patients. While it has favorable short-term outcomes, EVT may be associated with higher rates of restenosis and reintervention in the long term and the overall mortality rates for this disease process remain high, particularly for AMI. The choice between endovascular and open surgical approaches should be individualized on patient factors, lesion characteristics, and surgeon or interventionist expertise. Further prospective and randomized trials are needed to better elucidate outcomes from this approach and guide operative management.

Endovascular treatment of mesenteric ischemia

OBJECTIVES

Our goal was to describe a single-center's experience in managing acute and chronic mesenteric ischemia with endovascular therapies.

BACKGROUND

Open surgical revascularization has been considered the historical gold standard treatment for mesenteric ischemia though it poses considerable morbidity and mortality risk. An aging population with increased comorbidities makes endovascular treatment a more attractive treatment option.

METHODS

Consecutive subjects receiving percutaneous mesenteric interventions for acute and chronic mesenteric ischemia from 2004 to 2010 were identified retrospectively. Information on comorbidities, symptoms, screening tests, procedural outcomes, and follow up was obtained.

RESULTS

Thirty-one patients received percutaneous mesenteric interventions during this period. The mean age of the population was 65.0 years with roughly equal proportions of males (48.4%) and females (51.6%). Traditional cardiovascular risk factors were highly prevalent (hypertension 45.2%, diabetes 25.8%, dyslipidemia 38.7%, nicotine use 45.2%). Procedural success was 93.5%; no periprocedural complications were reported. During a mean follow up of 13 months, 16.1% required repeat revascularization and 22.6% died. Endovascular treatment of acute mesenteric ischemia was successful (n = 8) and no patient required open surgical revascularization acutely or during follow-up.

CONCLUSIONS

Endovascular treatment of mesenteric ischemia is a safe and effective therapy with acceptable long-term results. Our experience with acute mesenteric ischemia suggests that percutaneous treatment may be an effective alternative to surgical revascularization in appropriately selected patients.

A rare complication of laparoscopic surgery

Gallstone disease is one of the most common problems affecting the digestive tract. Symptomatic patients are advised to undergo laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC), which is considered the gold standard of care in these patients. LC has clear advantages over traditional surgery such as a shorter hospital stay, an earlier return to work and better patient satisfaction. Despite LC being a common surgical procedure, it is not totally free from complications. These include cardiorespiratory problems, biliary leakage, peritonitis, hemorrhage and superior mesenteric artery (SMA) occlusion. We report an unusual and fatal complication of LC, being SMA thrombosis complicated by multiple intra-abdominal collections, abdominal compartment syndrome, multiorgan failure and septic shock.

Intestinal ischemia: current treatment concepts

PURPOSE

Mesenteric ischemia is a condition well-known among physicians treating patients with abdominal symptoms. Even so, mortality rates have not decreased significantly over the last decades. The purpose of this article is to review current treatment concepts of acute and chronic mesenteric ischemia.

RESULTS

Early diagnosis is one of the most important features that determine a patient's prognosis. Conventional angiography and multidetector computed tomography are therefore appropriate to quickly diagnose mesenteric ischemia, the latter being commonly more available. Once a patient presents with signs of peritonitis, instant laparotomy is indicated, and infarcted bowel segments need to be resected, followed by a second-look operation if necessary. If bowel necrosis is clinically not suspected, different approaches should be applied according to source and nature of mesenteric ischemia. Besides established surgical treatment concepts, more and more interventional procedures are developed and evaluated. However, superiority of these new techniques could only be shown for selected patient groups so far. In chronic mesenteric ischemia, interventional approaches seem to be an attractive alternative in patients who are in a condition too bad to undergo surgery. Patients with colonic ischemia are treated best in a conservative manner and by resolving the underlying cause, if identified.

CONCLUSION

Patients with acute mesenteric ischemia are still at highest risk for a fatal course of disease. New diagnostic and therapeutic developments have not been tested in larger studies yet, neither has any of these methods led to an increased survival in studies published so far. Taken together, mesenteric ischemia requires high awareness, earliest possible diagnosis, and treatment by an experienced interdisciplinary team of gastroenterologists, radiologists, and surgeons.