Mesenteric vascular occlusion resulting in intestinal necrosis in children

The records of 4 patients who had necrotic bowel secondary to acute mesenteric vascular occlusion affecting various levels of mesenteric vasculature were reviewed to determine the clinical manifestations, diagnostic investigations, predisposing factors, complications, and outcome of mesenteric vascular thrombosis in children.

The medical records of the patients (3 boys, 1 girl) treated between 1981 and 1996, inclusive, for bowel infarction secondary to mesenteric vascular thrombosis, were reviewed with regard to signs and symptoms, laboratory tests, radiological investigations, surgical findings, histopathologic examinations, and outcome.

The ages of the patients ranged between 1 and 14 years with a mean age of 8.2 years. Initial symptoms, present in all patients, were abdominal pain, abdominal distension, and tenderness. Laboratory and radiological findings including abdominal radiographs and abdominal ultrasonography were nondiagnostic. Selective superior mesenteric angiography showed complete obliteration of the superior mesenteric artery with absence of venous return in 1 case. Three patients with massive intestinal necrosis died of multiorgan failure or the complications of short bowel syndrome. Histological examination of the resected intestinal segments showed the typical findings of polyarteritis nodosa in 2 patients. One patient had a previous history of right femoral vein thrombosis, whereas 1 patient had no known underlying disorders predisposing vascular thrombosis.

Mesenteric vascular occlusion is a rare but serious disease leading to death in children. The patients present with similar clinical signs, most frequent and important are acute abdominal pain, vomiting, and distension. Mesenteric vascular occlusion is a rare cause of acute abdomen in childhood, which requires urgent diagnosis and intervention. In suspected mesenteric vascular insufficiency, angiography should be performed followed by intraarterial thrombolytic infusion therapy in selected cases. When intestinal infarction is suspected, immediate surgical resection of compromised bowel is necessary with appropriate postoperative anticoagulation or treatment of any underlying disease.