Clinical appearances in severe ischaemic colitis. Case report

Ischaemic colitis was not diagnosed until laparotomy in five cases. In two it was secondary to hypotension and multiple organ failure, in two it was atherosclerotic, and one had polycythemia vera. The diagnosis should always be considered in patients with abdominal distension--with or without diarrhoea and abdominal pain--so that treatment may be instituted before the onset of peritonitis.