How to differentiate spontaneous intramural intestinal hemorrhage from acute mesenteric ischemia

A case of spontaneous mesenteric hematoma successfully diagnosed and treated with aggressive imaging

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Spontaneous mesenteric hematoma is an uncommon syndrome, and often misdiagnosed as other non-hemorrhagic acute abdomen.

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Close monitoring for any signs of further deterioration, as well as aggressive imaging diagnosis, enabled us to make early diagnosis and treatment.

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Sharing our experience may help physicians initiate treatment of mesenteric hematomas early to prevent life-threatening adverse events.

Introduction

Spontaneous mesenteric hematoma is an uncommon syndrome triggered by bleeding localized in the mesenteric vascular tree of a bowel segment for no apparent underlying reason. We herein report a surgical patient with an extremely rapidly growing spontaneous mesenteric hematoma that we successfully diagnosed using careful radiologic examination.

Presentation of case

A 56-year-old old male presenting sudden onset lower abdominal pain was referred to our emergency department. At the time of admission, his physical examination revealed stable vital signs without radiological abnormality. On the following day, the patient suddenly presented hypotension, tachycardia, and increased abdominal pain. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography examination showed a mass with both high- and low-density areas with a 130 mm maximum diameter bordering the transverse colon. Since interventional radiologists were not available, we decided to perform emergency exploratory laparotomy. On laparotomy, a 13 × 8 cm hematoma was found in the mesentery of the transverse colon. As bleeding was noted from the branches of the middle colic artery and gastrocolic artery, these responsible vessels were ligated. The patient was finally given the diagnosis of spontaneous mesenteric hematoma.

Discussion and conclusion

The present case, initially diagnosed as enterocolitis, suddenly manifested hypovolemic shock. Close monitoring for any signs of further deterioration, as well as aggressive imaging diagnosis, enabled us to avoid delays in treatment. Early diagnosis and treatment of mesenteric hematomas are essential to prevent them from rupturing and triggering life-threatening adverse events.

Report of a case with a spontaneous mesenteric hematoma that ruptured into the small intestine

INTRODUCTION

A spontaneous mesenteric hematoma is a rare condition. Furthermore, it is extremely rare that the mesenteric hematoma caused gastrointestinal bleeding with an unknown etiology. We experienced a case with a spontaneous mesenteric hematoma that ruptured into the jejunum.

PRESENTATION OF CASE

A 75-year-old man was referred to our hospital because of anal bleeding and anemia. Abdominal computed tomography (CT) showed a low density mass measuring 3.0cm in diameter, including an enhanced spot. This finding suggested that a pseudo-aneurysm or mesenteric hematoma caused active bleeding into the jejunum. He underwent emergent laparotomy and partial resection of the jejunum and the mesentery including the tumor. A histological examination of the jejunum indicated no pathogenic findings causing active bleeding. And there were no findings suggesting the mesenteric aneurysm had developed. The patient had no history related to the development of a mesenteric hematoma, such as trauma, labor, surgery, or anticoagulant treatment. Therefore, we finally diagnosed that a spontaneous mesenteric hematoma had ruptured into the jejunum.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

We reported extremely rare condition that the mesenteric hematoma was developed and ruptured into the jejunum without definitive etiology.

Spontaneous Intramural Intestinal Hemorrhage versus Acute Mesenteric Ischemia by CT Evaluation

Objective The purpose of our study was to differentiate the imaging findings of patients with spontaneous intramural intestinal hemorrhage (SIIH) from those with acute mesenteric ischemia (AMI) after abdominal computed tomography (CT) survey in the emergency department. Methods We retrospectively included 83 patients diagnosed with SIIH or AMI after abdominal CT. Results The mean ages of 30 SIIH patients and 53 AMI patients were 74.4±14.6 years and 75.8±11.2 years, respectively. Patients with SIIH had significantly thicker maximal intestinal wall thickening (14.8±3.9 vs. 10.9 ±4.1, p<0.001), a lower rate of ileum involvement (26.7% vs. 77.4%, p<0.001) and a higher rate of ascites (96.7% vs. 64.2%, p<0.001) compared with patients with AMI. Neither pneumatosis intestinalis (p<0.001) nor portomesenteric gas (p<0.01) were detected in SIIH patients but were observed in AMI patients. A receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis showed that the optimal cut-off value for maximal intestinal wall thickening between groups was 10.4 mm and the area under the ROC curve between groups was 0.752 (p<0.0001). A multiple logistic regression analysis showed that the independent predictors of SIIH were non-involvement of the ileum (odds ratio, OR, 6.998; p=0.001), maximal intestinal wall thickening ≥10.4 mm (OR, 5.748; p=0.040) and ascites (OR, 13.348; p=0.023). The area under the ROC curve for the model was 0.854 (p<0.001). Conclusion The independent predictors of SIIH from AMI after abdominal CT in acute abdominal patients include non-involvement of the ileum, intestinal wall thickening ≥10.4 mm, and ascites.