An unusual case of acute abdominal pain

Differential diagnosis for abdominal pain should enclose the rare occurrence of venous thromboembolism which may be the clinical expression of a systemic disease including the complication or the unusual first clinical presentation of an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Patients with IBD have an elevated risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) compared with the general population. Mortality among patients with portal-mesenteric vein thrombosis is rather high, while, due to its rare occurrence, studies on splanchnic vein thrombosis are few and there are no univocal data on appropriate duration of oral anticoagulation therapy, long-term prognosis, morbidity and mortality of the disease which remain mostly unknown. The clinical case reported here, describes a life-threatening, rare case of splenic-mesenteric-portal vein thrombosis as the acute manifestation of ulcerative-colitis. Awareness and early diagnosis of splanchnic thrombosis deserves, therefore, particular attention to ameliorate the final outcome and prognosis of disease