Acute Stress-Related Gastrointestinal Ischemia

Abstract

We report a case of acute gastrointestinal ischemia during a very stressful event in whom the diagnosis was made by 24-hour tonometry. This case report unequivocally links a stressful event with increased catecholamine release and subsequent severe symptomatic gastrointestinal ischemia. The role of ischemia as potential pathophysiological mechanism has never been studied in detail. The clinical significance of finding such an association is underscored by this case report, where a vasoactive drug normally used for hypertension treatment resulted in greatly improved abdominal symptoms.