MEFANET GAMES: Ileus from a surgical viewpoint

Author: Kateřina Gajdošíková, Michal Sochor, Vendula Svobodová

Institution: Faculty of Medicine at Masaryk University in Brno

Medical discipline: Emergency Medicine

Keywords: vascular ileus | short bowel syndrome | superior mesenteric artery embolism

Educational evel: Undergraduate level | Graduate

Ileus is one of many forms of acute abdomen. It is characterized as a disruption of the normal propulsive ability of the gastrointestinal tract with distension of bowel and then perforation followed by peritonitis and sepsis. This algorithm allows you to diagnose and treat this condition. You will also learn about complications that can occur.

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Acute mesenteric artery occlusion is an acute abdomen with the worst prognosis. The sooner we diagnose it and indicate the surgical solution, the more we increase the patient's chance of survival. We must always think of an
vascular ileus when the abdominal pain is sudden and clinical findings poor in patients with cardiac arrhythmias (in the case of embolism) or in patients with atherosclerosis (in the case of mesenteric thrombosis). Signs of peritoneal irritation are a late symptom of vascular ileus. Typical symptoms may be
overlaid by other symptoms, which may lead us to suspect a different acute condition. In this algorithm, it is well demonstrated how important it is in the case of an acute abdomen to repeatedly check and physically examine the patient and subsequently indicate the correct examinations and treatment.

publikováno: 25. 5. 2017 | last modified on: 15. 5. 2020