Acute mesenteric ischemia.

Acute mesenteric ischemia (AMI) remains a complex and difficult clinical problem. Such acute ischemia is usually either embolic or thrombotic in nature, but other etiologies exist. The diagnosis of AMI is difficult to establish and often delayed, resulting in irreversible bowel injury that requires intestinal resection. Mortality for AMI remains high, and patients requiring extensive gut resection are unlikely to survive. Patients surviving intestinal resection may develop short gut syndrome. The prognosis dramatically improves if revascularization can be achieved prior to intestinal infarction.