MESENTERIC VASCULAR OCCLUSION

Abstract

Reports of cases of mesenteric thrombosis and embolism treated successfully by surgical intervention no longer receive the widespread comment that in 1895 greeted Elliot's article on the first instance of recovery of a patient with intestinal infarction. However, even today the mortality in these cases is very high, and reports of surgical successes are still of considerable interest. The first instance of occlusion of the mesenteric vessels seems to have been reported by Tiedemann¹ in 1843, and four years later Virchow² explained the pathology of the condition. In 1875 Litten described fairly accurately the clinical picture. From that time until 1895, when Elliot³ reported his famous case, there were no great advances made in the diagnosis or treatment of this condition. Jackson, Porter and Quinby,⁴ in 1904, published what was probably the most complete study made on this subject up to that time. Trotter,⁵ in