This complaint may be a sign of intestinal vascular occlusion disease.
Does your stomach hurt all the time?
Do you think it’s due to stress? Do you have gas pains? These complaints may be a sign of a much more fatal disease: intestinal vascular occlusion! To explain the disease better, we can call it an intestinal attack by comparing it to a heart attack. Details on the subject can be found in Assoc. Prof. Dr. Burak Kavlakoğlu explained.
Assoc. Prof. said that in elderly people, usually 60 years of age and above, very severe abdominal pain may occur as a result of intestinal vascular occlusion due to heart rhythm disorder. Dr. Burak Kavlakoğlu says that early diagnosis is important. Stating that abdominal pain should not be ignored, Kavlakoğlu also points out that these pains are an insidious disease that accompanies heart diseases and occurs with the sudden blockage of the artery feeding the small intestine and large intestine.
Early Diagnosis is Important
General Surgery Specialist Assoc. Prof. said that in order to diagnose the disease, it is necessary to first suspect this disease. Dr. Burak Kavlakoğlu said, “In patients who apply to hospitals with severe abdominal pain, especially those over the age of 50, an ECG should be taken and it should be checked whether there is a rhythm disorder in the heart. As a result of these results, if the patient has an arrhythmia, it is important to undergo further examinations such as angiography to make a definitive diagnosis. Additionally, treatment should be started immediately as soon as this condition is diagnosed. “While it is possible to increase the chances of survival of patients in advanced centers with surgery and surgical-assisted methods if early diagnosis can be made, if there is a delay, unfortunately we lose 70-85% of our patients,” he said.
Operation priority is to save lives
Pointing out that the operation is primarily aimed at saving his life, Kavlakoğlu said that the process in which the vein feeding the intestines is blocked is very important, what will be done during the surgery is determined depending on how many hours have passed since the blockage. He stated that if this blockage occurred more than 12 hours ago, it is necessary to remove a large part of the intestine because the nutrition of the intestines will not be restored.
Our colleagues need to be suspicious
Underlining that they aim to keep the patient alive in the first place, General Surgery Specialist Assoc. Dr. Burak Kavlakoğlu said, “After resuscitating our patient, fluid balance must be maintained. We also have patients who have completely recovered from this disease, but it is a disease group with a very high risk of death. Since the disease progresses as a continuation of a process, it is necessary to prevent the vessels of the remaining intestines from continuing to become blocked after the surgery. The cliché that early diagnosis saves lives also applies here. It is also very important for our colleagues to suspect this disease. “An elderly patient who comes to the emergency department with abdominal pain should not be diagnosed with gas pain,” he said.
Delays in diagnosis also change the type of treatment to be administered. Abdominal cavity infections that occur as a result of perforated intestines in patients whose diagnosis is delayed cause the remaining viable intestine to open into the abdominal skin at the end of the surgery. Kavlakoğlu said that defecating in a bag causes deterioration in the quality of life, and since the patient is on the line between death and life, efforts are made to save him in the best possible way. He stated that it is a miracle that the patient even lives, so the fact that the patients survived, even with a bag, made both the patients and their relatives very happy.
When the history of some of these patients is examined, it can be seen that they experience abdominal pain from time to time, but it disappears after a while. Emphasizing that this issue should be investigated in depth and whether they have a special heart-related rhythm disorder, Kavlakoğlu emphasizes that elderly patients who experience abdominal pain on a full stomach after eating and therefore avoid even eating should consult a general surgeon without delay. ”
