Short Bowel Syndrome Due to Infarction of the Superior Mesenteric Artery

ABSTRACT

The syndrome of mesenteric ischemia remains clinically challenging despite decades of surgical experience, and occlusive disease involving the arteries to the viscera is associated with the life-threatening complications of intestinal infarction. Total parenteral nutrition has been shown to be an excellent treatment modality that has allowed many patients with intestinal failure to survive with a reasonable quality of life. However, only with the development of successful intestinal transplantation of the gut will the short bowel syndrome be cured. If intestinal transplantation could be performed with acceptable morbidity and mortality rates, it would offer a more physiologic and economic approach to the problem of short bowel syndrome. We report a case of short bowel syndrome due to infarction of the superior mesenteric artery along with a review of the literature.