Transient portal venous gas associated with reversible non-occlusive mesenteric ischemia: A case report

To report the utility of abdominal ultrasonography (US) to identify the presence of portal venous gas (PVG) during non-occlusive mesenteric ischemia (NOMI), and to follow the disappearance of portal venous gas after resolution of the NOMI.

This was a clinical observation of a patient, with images of abdominal computed tomography (CT), and a video of portal venous gas identified by ultrasonography.

We describe the case of an adult patient admitted to our ICU for NOMI developing 48h after cardiac surgery. Medical intensive care associated with jejunal resection and vacuum-assisted closure led to rapid recovery. Three weeks later, the patient presented acute pulmonary edema, and developed a new episode of NOMI that was suspected by identification of PVG on US, and then confirmed on abdominal CT. The patient rapidly improved after orotracheal intubation and treatment of pulmonary edema. A second US performed 9h later showed disappearance of PVG. The laparotomy performed 10h after the first US did not find evidence of small bowel or colon ischemia. The postoperative period was uneventful.

US is a useful tool for the detection of PVG in critically ill patients, prompting suspicion of AMI. PVG can be observed at the early phase of AMI, even before irreversible transmural gut ischemia; transient PVG that disappears rapidly (within several hours) may suggest resolution of the NOMI.