Ischemic colitisis a relatively uncommon complication following abdominal aortic aneurism repair.However, patients with this disease have higher rates of mortality when comparedto ischemic colitis alone. The objective of our study is to investigate theincidence and risk factors associated with the occurrence of ischemic colitisfollowing abdominal aortic aneurism repair. We studied eleven patients treatedby surgery for aortic aneurism at Hospital São Lucas da PUCRS (HSL-PUCRS).The patients were evaluated for other clinical conditions and were submittedto flexible reto-sigmoidoscopy at the seventh day after surgery. Incidence ofischemic colitis was 36% and it was associated with chronic obstructive pulmonardisease and the presence of blood flow through the inferior mesenteric arterybefore surgery. Among the patients with colitis, 25% presented the gangrenousform of the disease. Mortality was 25%, and 75% of the patients have only endoscopicmanifestations. In conclusion, incidence of ischemic colitis in our study washigher than observed in the literature and it was associated with chronic obstructivepulmonar disease and the presence of blood flow through the inferior mesentericartery before the surgical treatment for the aneurism.
