Abstract
A 79-year-old woman was seen at the hospital because of abdominal pain and vomiting. Her medical history indicated that she had undergone a laparotomy for gallstones and aneurysm of the jejunal artery. When she was first seen, she was in a state of shock. Physically, there was muscle guarding the entire abdomen.
An emergency abdominal CT scan showed ileus and hepatic portal venous gas (HPVG), and an emergency operation was performed 6 hours after admission. Upon laparotomy, necrosis from the center of the transverse colon to the descending colon and impairment of circulation involving most of the small intestine and a section from the sigmoid colon to the rectum Rs were observed.
Extended resection of the small and large intestines with gastrostomy was carried out. During the operation, blood pressure dropped to less than 50 mmHg and the patient died 3 hours after the operation. The life of this patient could have been saved by surgery in an early phase; however, the life of this patient could not be saved because of her poor general condition. This case is presented here together with some bibliographical comments.
