Superior mesenteric artery syndrome: A rare but life threatening disease

Meltem Ugras; Suat Bicer; Fatma Tugba Coskun; Endi Romano; Baki Ekci

doi:10.1016/j.tjem.2017.01.001

Meltem Ugras¹, Suat Bicer², Fatma Tugba Coskun³, Endi Romano³, Baki Ekci⁴

¹Yeditepe University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Child Health and Pediatrics, Istanbul, Turkey
²Yeditepe University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Child Health and Pediatrics, Istanbul, Turkey
³Yeditepe University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Child Health and Pediatrics, Istanbul, Turkey
⁴Yeditepe University Faculty of Medicine, Department of General Surgery, Istanbul, Turkey

Abstract

Superior mesenteric artery syndrome was observed in an adolescent patient. He had a 1-day history of nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain, without chronic or recurrent symptoms. Diagnosis was established by abdominal plain x-ray, contrast enhanced abdominal computed tomography, and endoscopic examination. The patient was hospitalized, monitorized, and decompressed by nasogastric tube without oral feeding. The symptoms of the patient were gradually relieved by conservative treatment and he was discharged after one week. Clinicians should be careful when facing upper gastrointestinal symptoms that are resistant and non-responsive to treatment, and this syndrome should be kept in mind. This case is presented to draw attention to this disease because of its rare incidence.