A rare case of bloody diarrhea: thrombosis of the V. mesenterica inferior following laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

Laparoscopic cholecystectomy has become the standard treatment for symptomatic cholecystolithiasis. The most common complications, as current experiences show, are bleeding, bile duct injury and non-technical complications like pneumonia. In some individual cases ischemic lesions of bowel by injury or thrombosis of intestinal vessels are described. Here we report the rare case of intestinal venous thrombosis following laparoscopic cholecystectomy. The complication clinically appeared within 24 h after operation starting with bloody diarrhea and mimicking inflammatory bowel disease. The patient, a 41-year old man, was treated with high-dose heparin and could be discharged after 44 days without complaints. Coloscopy six months after the event showed a restitution ad integrum.