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Tests and diagnosis
By Mayo Clinic staffIf your doctor suspects intestinal ischemia, you may undergo several diagnostic tests, based on your signs and symptoms, including:
- Imaging tests. Imaging tests may help your doctor see your internal organs and rule out other causes for your signs and symptoms. Imaging tests may include X-ray, ultrasound, computerized tomography (CT) scan and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
- Using a scope to see inside your digestive tract. This technique involves inserting a lighted, flexible tube with a camera on its tip into your mouth or rectum to view your digestive tract from the inside. The camera can be inserted in your mouth (endoscopy) to help see the upper portion of your small intestine. The camera can also be inserted in your rectum to view the last 2 feet of your colon (sigmoidoscopy) or to view your entire colon (colonoscopy).
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Using dye to track blood flow through the arteries. During angiography, a long, thin tube (catheter) is inserted into an artery in your groin or in your arm and then passed through the artery to the aorta. A dye is injected and it flows directly to your intestinal arteries. X-ray images are then taken that show the dye moving through your arteries. If you have intestinal ischemia, the images may show a blocked or narrowed artery. This technique also allows the doctor to treat a blockage in an artery by injecting medication or using special tools to widen an artery.
Another way of performing angiography involves injecting dye into a vein in your arm, where it can travel to the arteries that supply your intestines with blood. Images are then taken of your intestines using CT or MRI.
- Exploratory surgery. In some cases you may need exploratory surgery to locate and remove damaged tissue. Opening up the abdomen allows for diagnosis and treatment during one procedure.
- Brandt LJ, et al. Intestinal ischemia. In: Feldman M, et al. Sleisinger and Fordtran's Gastrointestinal and Liver Disease. 9th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders; 2010. http://www.mdconsult.com/book/player/linkTo?type=bookHome&isbn=978-1-4160-6189-2&eid=4-u1.0-B978-1-4160-6189-2..X0001-7--TOP&uniq=200844987-3. Accessed May 17, 2010.
- Hauseer SC. Vascular diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. In: Goldman L, et al. Cecil Medicine. 23rd ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders; 2007. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/201609212-3/0/1492/0.html. Accessed May 17, 2010.
- Tendler DA, et al. Acute mesenteric ischemia. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed May 12, 2010.
- Tendler DA, et al. Chronic mesenteric ischemia. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed May 12, 2010.
- Atherosclerosis. National Heart Lung and Blood Institute. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/Atherosclerosis/Atherosclerosis_All.html. Accessed May 21, 2010.
- Catheter angiography. RadiologyInfo.org. http://www.radiologyinfo.org/en/info.cfm?pg=angiocath. Accessed May 20, 2010.
- CT angiography (CTA). RadiologyInfo.org. http://www.radiologyinfo.org/en/info.cfm?pg=angioct. Accessed May 19, 2010.
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