Bowel Ischemia

The term “bowel ischemia” encompasses a wide range of diseases, ranging fromself-limiting conditions, usually responding to conservative treatment, to surgicalemergencies, associated with high mortality rates. In acute setting, according toanatomy, different pathogenesis, and clinical evolution, we can classify them in twomain categories: acute mesenteric ischemia (AMI) and colon ischemia (CI), alsonamed ischemic colitis (IC). Bowel ischemia may also be secondary to other pathologies,such as strangulated hernia and intestinal occlusion, but, in these cases, itshould be regarded as a complication of the related disease and falls outside thescope of the present chapter.