CT in patients with ischemic or infarcted bowel

The authors retrospectively reviewed the CT scans and medical records of 23 patients with ischemic or infarcted bowel (IIB) to assess the efficacy of CT in this setting. Retrospective scan review revealed nonspecific dilatation in 13 patients. More specific signs for IIB of bowel-wall thickening, pneumatosis intestinalis, and portal venous gas were present in only six, five, and four of the 23 patients, respectively. Correlative abdominal radiographs were normal in four patients with a CT scan that demonstrated specific signs of IIB. Our results indicate that many patients with IIB will have a normal or nonspecific CT scan. However, CT is valuable in this setting since CT findings diagnostic of IIB may be present in patients with normal abdominal radiographs