Summary
A 27-year-old male commercial diver developed massive mesenteric venous thrombosis following a dive. Symptoms at presentation included abdominal pain and diarrhea. A severe upper gastrointestinal bleed developed. Exploratory laparotomy demonstrated 130 cm of infarcted small bowel. The pathophysiologic events in decompression sickness predispose to vascular obstruction and venous infarction. This patient had a past history of possible thrombophlebitis and pulmonary embolism associated with diving but no identifable coagulopathy.
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Dr. Gertler is a NIH Research Trainee in Gastroenterology.
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Gertler, S.L., Stein, J., Simon, T. et al. Mesenteric venous thrombosis as sole complication of decompression sickness. Digest Dis Sci 29, 91–95 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01296869
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01296869