Smooth muscle degeneration of the mesenteric and branching veins causing ischemic enteritis: a case report

Background: Ischemic bowel injuries are generally caused by arteriosclerosis, thromboembolism, or vasculitis. Ischemic enteritis is less common than ischemic colitis because of the rich collateral arteries of the small intestine. In the present case, smooth muscle degeneration of the mesenteric to the submucosal veins caused ischemic enteritis and small bowel obstruction.

Case presentation: An 85-year-old woman with recurrent enteritis eventually developed small bowel obstruction. We performed laparoscopic partial resection of the small intestine. The pathological findings revealed smooth muscle degeneration of the mesenteric veins that caused ischemic enteritis. Venous changes were detected not only in the injured region, but also in a part of the normal region of the resected specimen. She continued to experience some minor symptoms postoperatively; however, these symptoms subsided in a short period with medicine discontinuation.

Conclusion: This report shows the possibility that a disease causes ischemic enteritis with unique venous pathological changes and may recur postoperatively.