Superior Mesenteric Artery Syndrome: A rare and unusual cause of Gastrointestinal Obstruction

ABSTRACT

Introduction@#Superior mesenteric artery (SMA) syndrome is a rare and unusual acquired cause of functional duodenal obstruction whose diagnosis can be easily missed without knowledge of this condition.@*Case Presentation@#We report a case of a 27-year-old female, presenting with post-prandial vomiting, early satiety, bloatedness and weight loss for about 10 months. Vital signs were stable. She was grossly underweight with a BMI of 11.72 kg/m2 (height=1.6m, weight=30kg). Physical examination was unremarkable. Gastrointestinal series revealed a narrowing in the third portion of the duodenum likely secondary to extrinsic compression. Contrast-enhanced CT scan of the whole abdomen was performed with 3D reconstruction. There were no definite signs of gastrointestinal obstruction. However, a narrow/acute aorto-mesenteric angle of 13 degrees compressing the third part of the duodenum was noted. Superior mesenteric syndrome was considered, prompting further work-up. Primary hyperthyroidism was the root cause of the patient’s weight loss that lead to this condition. Patient was given nutritional support, parenterally and enterally. She was discharged improved after oral feeding was tolerated and patient started to gain weight. @*Discussion@#Superior mesenteric artery (SMA) syndrome is an uncommon medical condition brought about by a decrease in the aortomesenteric angle from the usual 45o to less than 15o resulting in vascular compression of the third part of the duodenum leading to gastrointestinal obstruction. A high index of suspicion is needed to prevent the diagnosis from being missed which may in turn lead to unnecessary testing and treatment. If recognized early, the condition may be managed conservatively. Surgical management is only required when conservative methods fail.@*Conclusion@#Early recognition and a thorough evaluation is therefore imperative so conservative measures can be maximized at the outset.