Superior Mesenteric Vein Trombosis: Two Sample Cases

There are various types and causes of mesenteric ischemia, among them, superior mesenteric vein thrombosis is an infrequent and dubious disease. If a patient presents with a clinical picture of superior mesenteric vein thrombosis, the past medical history should be analyzed and the patient should be monitored for underlying disease.

In this section, we would like to present two female patients, aged 85 and 87 years, who underwent emergency operation due to acute abdomen and were diagnosed with superior mesenteric vein thrombosis, in the light of the literature. Despite minor differences, the picture was completely similar in both of our patients. While ileus was prominent in our 85-year-old patient, an excessive amount of melena was present in our 87-year-old patient. Although there were signs of ischemia in preoperative computed tomography sections, we were able to directly diagnose superior mesenteric vein thrombosis perioperatively. Intra-abdominal blood leakage and accumulation was present in both of our patients and bowel resection was inevitable in both patients. Although recovery was difficult in the postoperative period, we were able to discharge both of our patients without any mortality.

In conclusion, early diagnosis of mesenteric vein thrombosis, timely treatment, necessary surgical intervention and appropriate anticoagulation therapy are the most important elements of success in treatment and result in lower morbidity and mortality.