Abdominal pain in an adult with Type 2 diabetes: A case report

Chronic abdominal pain (CAP) may be a manifestation of diseases involving many intra-abdominal organs. Beside diseases affecting subjects without diabetes mellitus, diabetic patients may have CAP due to diabetes-related complications like neuritis, motor diseases of the gastrointestinal tract and autonomic dysfunction. Atherosclerosis is 2-4 times more common in patients with diabetes and affects mainly carotid, coronary, iliac and lower limb arteries as well as aorta. Another less common complication is chronic mesenteric ischemia (CMI, intestinal angina), caused by atherosclerotic obstruction of the celiac artery and its branches and results in episodic or constant intestinal hypoperfusion.

We present a case of a diabetic patient with CMI in whom the diagnosis was delayed by almost 5 years. The dominant symptoms were crampy abdominal postprandial pain, anorexia, changes in bowel habits and cachexia. Conventional angiography revealed significant stenosis of the celiac artery and complete obstruction of the inferior mesenteric artery. Noteworthy, no significant stenoses in carotids or limbs' arteries were found. Revascularization resulted in clinical improvement 1 week post-intervention.

CAP in patients with diabetes may be due to CMI. The typical presentation is crampy postprandial abdominal pain in a heavy smoker male patient with long-standing diabetes, accompanied by anorexia, changes in bowel habits and mild to moderate weight loss. At least two of the three main splanchnic arteries must be significantly occluded in order CMI to be symptomatic. The diagnostic procedure of choice is conventional angiography and revascularization of the occluded arteries is the radical treatment.