Planned second-look laparoscopy in the management of acute mesenteric ischemia

AIM： To investigate the role of second-look laparoscopy in patients with acute mesenteric ischemia （AMI）. METHODS： Between January 2000 and November 2005, 71 patients were operated for the treatment of AMI. The indications for a second-look were low flow state, bowel resection and anastomosis or mesenteric thromboembolectomy performed during the first operation. Regardless of the clinical course of patients, the second-look laparoscopic examination was performed 72 h post-operatively at the bed side in the ICU or operating room. RESULTS： The average time of admission to the hospital after the initation of syrnptoms was 3 d （range, 5 h-9 d）. In 14 patients, laparotomy was performed. In 11 patients, small and/or large bowel necrosis was detected and initial resection and anastomosis were conducted. A low flow state was observed in two patients and superior mesenteric artery thromboembolectomy with small bowel resection was performed in one patient. In 13 patients, a second-look laparoscopic examination revealed normal bowel viability, but in one patient, intestinal necrosis was detected. In two of the patients, a third operation was necessary to correct anastomotic leakage. The overall complication rate was 42.8%, and in-hospital mortality rate was 57.1% （n = 6）. CONCLUSION： Second-look laparoscopy is a minimally invasive, technically simple procedure that is performed for diagnostic as well as therapeutic purposes. The simplicity and ease of this method may encourage wider application to benefit more patients. However, the timing of a second-look procedure is unclear particularly in a patient with anastomosis.

Acute mesenteric ischemia after cardio-pulmonary bypass surgery

Acute mesenteric ischemia (AMI) is a highly-lethal surgical emergency. Several pathophysiologic events (arterial obstruction, venous thrombosis and diffuse vasospasm) lead to a sudden decrease in mesenteric blood flow. Ischemia/reperfusion syndrome of the intestine is responsible for systemic abnormalities, leading to multi-organ failure and death. Early diagnosis is difficult because the clinical presentation is subtle, and the biological and radiological diagnostic tools lack sensitivity and specificity. Therapeutic options vary from conservative resuscitation, medical treatment, endovascular techniques and surgical resection and revascularization. A high index of suspicion is required for diagnosis, and prompt treatment is the only hope of reducing the mortality rate. Studies are in progress to provide more accurate diagnostic tools for early diagnosis. AMI can complicate the post-operative course of patients following cardio-pulmonary bypass (CPB). Several factors contribute to the systemic hypo-perfusion state, which is the most frequent pathophysiologic event. In this particular setting, the clinical presentation of AMI can be misleading, while the laboratory and radiological diagnostic tests often produce inconclusive results. The management strategies are controversial, but early treatment is critical for saving lives. Based on the experience of our team, we consider prompt exploratory laparotomy, irrespective of the results of the diagnostic tests, isthe only way to provide objective assessment and adequate treatment, leading to dramatic reduction in the mortality rate.

Multidisciplinary management of acute mesenteric ischemia:Surgery and endovascular intervention

Acute mesenteric ischemia(AMI)is a rare cause of the“acute abdomen”,characterized by impaired blood flow to the intestine.The principle of treatment is restoration of perfusion to ischemic bowel and resection of any necrotic intestine.Surgery and endovascular intervention are two complementary approaches to mesenteric ischemia.Endovascular intervention is not an alternative to the surgical approach,but it has the potential to improve the prognosis of patients with AMI when judiciously combined with a surgical approach.Due to the need for emergent treatment of patients with acute mesenteric ischemia,the treatment strategy needs to be modified for each facility.This review aims to highlight cutting-edge studies and provide reasonable treatment strategies for patients with acute mesenteric ischemia based on available evidence.

Acute mesenteric ischemia due to percutaneous coronary intervention:A case report

BACKGROUND Percutaneous coronary intervention(PCI) is extensively used to treat acute coronary syndromes(ACS).Acute mesenteric ischemia is a life-threatening disease if untreated.CASE SUMMARY An 81-year-old female presented with 3 d of lethargy and 1 d of dyspnea.On November 16,2021,the patient developed a coma.Her oxygen saturation dropped to 70%-80%,the patient was admitted to the intensive care unit for further treatment.Chest computed tomography(CT) showed chronic bronchitis,emphysema,and multiple lung infections.Abdominal CT scan showed no obvious abnormalities,but have severely calcified abdominal vessels.The patient received assisted ventilation,and vasoactive,and anti-infection drugs.Troponin level was elevated.Since the patient was in a coma,it could not be determined whether she had chest pain.The cardiologist assumed that the patient had developed ACS;therefore,the patient underwent PCI via the left femoral artery approach,and no obvious abnormalities were found in the left and right coronary arteries.On the second postoperative day,the patient presented with abdominal distension and decreased bowel sounds;constipation was considered and a glycerin enema was administered.On day 4,the patient suddenly lost consciousness,and had decreased blood pressure,abdominal wall swelling with increased tension,and absence of bowel sounds.An urgent abdominal CT scan revealed gas in her hepatic portal system with extensive bowel wall necrosis.The patient died on day 5 due to intractable shock.CONCLUSION The potential serious complications in patients undergoing PCI,especially the patients who are hemodynamically unstable and have severely calcified abdominal vessels,should all be considered.

Surgical management of peritonitis secondary to acute superior mesenteric artery occlusion

Diagnosis of acute arterial mesenteric ischemia in the early stages is now possible using modern computed tomography with intravenous contrast enhancement and imaging in the arterial and/or portal phase.Most patients have acute superior mesenteric artery(SMA)occlusion,and a large proportion of these patients will develop peritonitis prior to mesenteric revascularization,and explorative laparotomy will therefore be necessary to evaluate the extent and severity of intestinal ischemia,and to perform bowel resections.The establishment of a hybrid operating room in vascular units in hospitals is most important to be able to perform successful intestinal revascularization.This review outlines current frontline surgical strategies to improve survival and minimize bowel morbidity in patients with peritonitis secondary to acute SMA occlusion.Explorative laparotomy needs to be performed first.Curative treatment is based upon intestinal revascularization followed by bowel resection.If no vascular imaging has been carried out,SMA angiography is performed.In case of embolic occlusion of the SMA,open embolectomy is performed followed by angiography.In case of thrombotic occlusion,the occlusive lesion can be recanalized retrograde from an exposed SMA,the guidewire snared from either the femoral or brachial artery,and stented with standard devices from these access sites.Bowel resections and sometimes gall bladder removal due to transmural infarctions are performed at initial laparotomy,leaving definitive bowel reconstructions to a planned second look laparotomy,according to the principles of damage control surgery.Patients with peritonitis secondary to acute SMA occlusion should be managed by both the general and vascular surgeon,and a hybrid revascularization approach is of utmost importance to improve outcomes.

Nomogram for predicting transmural bowel infarction in patients with acute superior mesenteric venous thrombosis

BACKGROUND The prognosis of acute mesenteric ischemia(AMI)caused by superior mesenteric venous thrombosis(SMVT)remains undetermined and early detection of transmural bowel infarction(TBI)is crucial.The predisposition to develop TBI is of clinical concern,which can lead to fatal sepsis with hemodynamic instability and multi-organ failure.Early resection of necrotic bowel could improve the prognosis of AMI,however,accurate prediction of TBI remains a challenge for clinicians.When determining the eligibility for explorative laparotomy,the underlying risk factors for bowel infarction should be fully evaluated.AIM To develop and externally validate a nomogram for prediction of TBI in patients with acute SMVT.METHODS Consecutive data from 207 acute SMVT patients at the Wuhan Tongji Hospital and 89 patients at the Guangzhou Nanfang Hospital between July 2005 and December 2018 were included in this study.They were grouped as training and external validation cohort.The 207 cases(training cohort)from Tongji Hospital were divided into TBI and reversible intestinal ischemia groups based on the final therapeutic outcomes.Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted to identify independent risk factors for TBI using the training data,and a nomogram was subsequently developed.The performance of the nomogram was evaluated with respect to discrimination,calibration,and clinical usefulness in the training and external validation cohort.RESULTS Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses identified the following independent prognostic factors associated with TBI in the training cohort:The decreased bowel wall enhancement(OR=6.37,P<0.001),rebound tenderness(OR=7.14,P<0.001),serum lactate levels>2 mmol/L(OR=3.14,P=0.009)and previous history of deep venous thrombosis(OR=6.37,P<0.001).Incorporating these four factors,the nomogram achieved good calibration in the training set[area under the receiver operator characteristic curve(AUC)0.860;95%CI:0.771-0.925]and the external validation set(AUC 0.851;95%CI:0.796-0.897).The positive and negative predictive values(95%CIs)of the nomogram were calculated,resulting in positive predictive values of 54.55%(40.07%-68.29%)and 53.85%(43.66%-63.72%)and negative predictive values of 93.33%(82.14%-97.71%)and 92.24%(85.91%-95.86%)for the training and validation cohorts,respectively.Based on the nomogram,patients who had a Nomo-score of more than 90 were considered to have high risk for TBI.Decision curve analysis indicated that the nomogram was clinically useful.CONCLUSION The nomogram achieved an optimal prediction of TBI in patients with AMI.Using the model,the risk for an individual patient inclined to TBI can be assessed,thus providing a rational therapeutic choice.

Severe Klebsiella pneumoniae pneumonia complicated by acute intra-abdominal multiple arterial thrombosis and bacterial embolism:A case report

BACKGROUND Klebsiella pneumoniae(K.pneumoniae)is a clinically common Gram-negative bacillus that can cause community-and hospital-acquired infections and lead to pneumonia,liver abscesses,bloodstream infections,and other infectious diseases;however,severe pneumonia caused by hypervirulent K.pneumoniae(hv Kp)complicated by acute intra-abdominal multiple arterial thrombosis and bacterial embolism is rarely seen in the clinical setting and has not been reported in the literature.CASE SUMMARY A 51-year-old man was hospitalized with fever and dyspnea.Persistent mild pain in the middle and upper abdomen began at dawn on the 3rd day following admission and developed into persistent severe pain in the left upper abdomen 8h later.Based on chest computed tomography(CT),bronchoscopy,bronchoalveolar lavage fluid metagenomic next-generation sequencing,abdominal aortic CT angiography(CTA),and culture of the superior mesenteric artery embolus,adult community-acquired severe hv Kp pneumonia complicated by acute intraabdominal multiple arterial thrombosis and bacterial embolism was diagnosed.Notably,he recovered and was discharged from the hospital after receiving effective meropenem anti-infection,endovascular contact thrombolytic,and systemic anticoagulant therapies and undergoing percutaneous thrombus aspiration.Ten days later,the patient returned to the hospital for abdominal CTA examination,which indicated blocked initial common pathway of the celiac trunk and superior mesenteric artery,and local stenosis.Therefore,celiac trunk artery stenting was performed in Chongqing Hospital,and postoperative recovery was good.CONCLUSION We report a case of hv Kp severe pneumonia complicated by acute intra-abdominal multiple arterial thrombosis and bacterial embolism and suggest that clinicians should consider the possibility of a Gram-negative bacillus infection and conduct effective pathogen detection in a timely fashion when managing patients with severe community-acquired pneumonia before obtaining bacteriologic and drug sensitivity results.At the same time,when patients have severe pulmonary infection complicated by severe abdominal pain,an acute mesenteric artery embolism should be considered to avoid delays in treatment.

Prognostic significance of red blood cell distribution width in gastrointestinal disorders

The red blood cell distribution width(RDW) is a routinely measured and automatically reported blood parameter,which reflects the degree of anisocytosis. Recently,the baseline RDW was found to have clinical significance for assessing clinical outcome and severity of various pathological conditions including cardiovascular diseases,sepsis,cancers,leukemia,renal dysfunction and respiratory diseases. A myriad of factors,most of which ill-defined,have an impact on the red cell population dynamics(i.e.,production,maturation and turnover). A delay in the red blood cell clearance in pathological conditions represents one of the leading determinants of increased anisocytosis. Further study of RDW may reveal new insight into inflammation mechanisms. In this review,we specifically discuss the current literature about the association of RDW in various disease conditions involving the gastrointestinal and hepatobiliary systems. We also present some of the related measurements for their value in predicting clinical outcomes in such conditions. According to our data,RDW was found to be a valuable prognostic index in gastrointestinal disorders along with additional inflammatory biomarkers(i.e.,C reactive protein,erythrocyte sedimentation rate,and platelet count) and current disease severity indices used in clinical practice.

Ischemic bowel disease in 2021

Ischemic bowel disease(ISBODI)includes colon ischemia,acute mesenteric ischemia(AMI)and chronic mesenteric ischemia(CMI).Epidemiologically,colon ischemia is the most common type followed by AMI and CMI.There are various risk factors for the development of ISBODI.Abdominal pain is the common presenting symptom of each type.High clinical suspicion is essential in ordering appropriate tests.Imaging studies and colonoscopy with biopsy are the main diagnostic tests.Treatment varies from conservative measures to surgical resection and revascularization.Involvement of multidisciplinary team is essential in managing ISBODI.Although open surgery with revascularization plays an important role,recently there is an increasing interest in percutaneous endovascular treatment.

Ischemic colitis and large bowel infarction:A case report

Ischemic bowel disease results from an acute or chronic drop in the blood supply to the bowel and may have various clinical presentations, such as intestinal angina, ischemic colitis or intestinal infarction. Elderly patients with systemic atherosclerosis who are symptomatic for the disease in two or more vascular beds have multiple comorbidities and are particularly at risk. The clinical evolution and outcome of this disease are difficult to predict because of its pleomorphic aspects and the general lack of statistical data. In this paper, we present the case of a patient who was monitored in our unit for six years. For this patient, we encountered iterative changes in the clinical pattern, beginning with chronic "intestinal angina" and finishing with signs of acute mesenteric ischemia after an episode of ischemic colitis. This evolution is particularly rare in clinical practice, and the case is instructive because it raises discussions about the natural history of the condition and the thera-peutic decisions that should be made at every stage of the disease. An important lesson is that ischemic bowel disease should always be considered in patients who have multiple risk factors for atherosclerosis and have experienced recurrent "indistinct" abdominal symptoms.In these cases, aggressive investigation and therapeutic decisions must be taken whenever possible. Despite an absence of standardized protocols, angiographic evaluation and revascularization procedures have beneficial outcomes. Current advances in endovascular therapy, such as percutaneous transluminal angioplasty with stenting, should be increasingly used in patients with chronic mesenteric ischemia. Such therapy can avoid the risks that are associated with open repair. However, technical difficulties, especially in severe stenotic lesions, frequently occur.

A systematic review of the management of acute superior mesenteric vein thrombosis in adults

Background:Acute thrombosis of the superior mesenteric vein(SMV)is a rare but potentially catastrophic condition.Clinically separate from portal venous thrombosis due to a higher proportion of associated thrombophilic disorders and intestinal infarction,SMV thrombosis warrants a distinct approach to management.The aim of this review is to report the evidence for current practice.Methods:A systematic review was carried out in accordance with Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines.Four clinical trials databases and 4 trial registries were searched.This search was not limited by language or study type,but was limited to an adult population(18 years and above).The search period was between January 1,2000 and February 28,2019.The review was registered in the PROSPERO database:CRD42018116825.Bias was assessed using the ROBINS-I tool.Results:A total of 7989 studies were identified,resulting in 19 observational studies being analyzed.Eighteen studies reported on anti-coagulation,1 reported on anti-coagulation plus endovascular thrombectomy,9 reported on thrombolysis,and 10 reported on the role of surgery.Bias assessment showed that confounding was a significant area of potential bias.This review has reported that the management of SMV thrombosis is centered around a patients’perceived hemodynamic stability.If there is evidence of perforation or peritonism then surgical intervention is advocated.Otherwise,anti-coagulation or thrombolysis is preferred.Conclusions:The data reported were compared with,and added to,that presented by the European Society for Vascular Surgery 2017 guidelines.Overall the source data were heterogenous,with multiple sources of bias and statistical comparison was not achievable.