[Ischemic bowel disease]

Arteries of the small intestine and colon have several anastomotic interconnections that help protect against the consequence of occlusive vascular disease. Vascular ischemic syndromes of the colon include several clinical entities, depending upon the degree and duration of the interruption of vascular flow. They include acute mesenteric artery occlusion, abdominal angina and ischemic colitis. Acute mesenteric artery occlusion is usually caused by an embolus from the heart and if the diagnosis is delayed, the mortality is quite high. Abdominal angina often precedes the acute mesenteric artery occlusion. On the other hand, ischemic colitis consists of the solitary disease entity because of its characteristic clinical and radiographic features. Recently, many cases of ischemic colitis have been reported. This article reviews the recent advances in ischemic bowel disease.