ABSTRACT

Acute mesenteric ischemia is a pathology leading to acute abdomen with a very poor prognosis when there is a delay in diagnosis. In this study we aimed to investigate the importance of D-dimer levels and biochemical parameters in early diagnosis of acute mesentheric ischemia by assessing time-dependent variations of these parameters. Forty Wistar-Albino male rats were divided into four groups. Only laparotomy and mesenteric arterial dissection were made in the control group. In the other groups laparotomy was performed, and ischemia was constituted for 2, 4 and 6 hours by ligating mesenteric artery. Blood samples were taken for measuring serum levels of D-dimer and biochemical parameters in rats. Intestinal tissue samples were obtained from ileum to assess the level of ischemia in histopathological examination. There were significant differences between the control and 2-, 4- and 6-hour ischemia groups regarding D-dimer levels and biochemical parameters such as alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, lactic dehydrogenase, creatine phosphokinase and phosphate (p<0.05). There was no statistically signifant difference with respect to alkaline phosphatase levels (p>0.05). D-dimer levels and biochemical parameters increased in correlation with the duration of ischemia, and there were significant differences between the groups (p<0.05). A significantly deeper ichemic injury was observed in correlation with the duration of ischemia in histopathologic examination. Measurement of D-dimer levels and some biochemical parameters studied in this study may be useful in the early diagnosis of acute mesenteric ischemia provided that our findings are supported with further clinical and experimental studies.