Abstract

Background: Non-occlusive mesenteric ischemia (NOMI) is due to mesenteric arterial hypoperfusion from several causes, such as hypovolemia, heart failure, shock, vasoconstrictors, and severe liver or renal disease. Vasoconstrictor-induced NOMI is usually iatrogenic or associated with cocaine use.

Objectives: Anecdotal reports suggest that cocaine-induced NOMI has the highest mortality among vasoconstrictors. This review aims to compare the outcomes of colonic NOMI secondary to cocaine versus other vasoconstrictors.

Methods: We conducted a systematic search of MEDLINE from inception through October 2016 to find articles on colonic NOMI. The study’s primary outcomes were mortality and hospital length of stay (LOS), while secondary outcomes included the need for surgery. We reported descriptive statistics as percentages or median and interquartile range (IQR). We compared continuous data with the Mann-Whitney test and categorical data with Fisher’s exact test; P<0.05 was statistically significant.

Results: Of the 59 studies, 20 case reports and three case series (n=27 patients) met the inclusion criteria. There was no difference in mortality between cocaine-induced NOMI and non-cocaine NOMI (P=1.0). There were statistically significant differences between cocaine and non-cocaine vasoconstrictor-induced colonic NOMI regarding surgery (60% vs 5.8%, P=0.03) and median LOS (7 days vs 4 days, P=0.04).

Conclusion: Cocaine-induced NOMI and non-cocaine NOMI both appear to have a relatively high but similar mortality rate, but the former is associated with increased requirement for surgery and LOS; prompt recognition of this clinical entity is required to improve outcomes.