Malabsorption and abdominal pain secondary to celiac artery entrapment
P. J. Garvin, O. Sawyerr, E. Cabal, D. L. Kaminski and J. E. Codd
A patient with abdominal pain was found to have severe compression of his
celiac artery on abdominal angiography. Preoperative evaluation with base
line and provocative xylose absorption studies were compatible with
decreased intestinal blood flow. Surgical division of the median arcuate
ligament corrected the intraoperatively determined pressure gradient.
Postoperative studies at three months demonstrate absence of celiac artery
compression on angiography and normal provocative xylose absorption
studies. This case lends support to the existence of the median arcuate
ligament syndrome.
