Ashrafian Hutan, Manfield James H R, Mitra Anuja, Boyle Derek J, Mathur Pawan
Department of General Surgery, Barnet Hospital, Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals NHS Trust, Wellhouse Lane, Barnet EN5 3DJ, UK.
BMC Surg. 2014 Jun 3;14:35. doi: 10.1186/1471-2482-14-35.
Spontaneous mesenteric haematoma is a rare condition that occurs due to localized bleeding in the mesenteric vascular tree of a bowel segment in the absence of an identifiable cause. Here we report a case of spontaneous mesenteric haematoma during an inflammatory exacerbation of Crohn's disease. The patient underwent surgical management for small bowel obstruction secondary to Crohn's disease, however the concurrent presence of a spontaneous mesenteric haematoma in the mid-jejunal mesentery was successfully managed conservatively.
This case identifies the first association of spontaneous mesenteric haematoma with an exacerbation of Crohn's disease and highlights the need to consider rare differential diagnoses such as SMH when performing radiological assessment of unexplained symptoms in inflammatory bowel disease patients.
