Abdominal anginaisabdominal pain after eating that occurs in individuals with ongoing poor blood supply to their small intestines known as chronic mesenteric ischemia.[1] Although the term angina alone usually denotes angina pectoris (a type of chest pain due to obstruction of the coronary artery), angina by itself can also mean "any spasmodic, choking, or suffocative pain",[2] with an anatomic adjective defining its focus; so, in this case, spasmodic pain in the abdomen. Stedman's Medical Dictionary Online[3] defines abdominal angina as "intermittent abdominal pain, frequently occurring at a fixed time after eating, caused by inadequacy of the mesenteric circulation resulting from arteriosclerosis or other arterial disease. Synonym: intestinal angina."
Symptoms of abdominal angina include postprandial pain, weight loss, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, and an aversion or fear of eating caused by the pain associated with eating.[4]
Abdominal angina usually starts 30 minutes after eating and lasts for one to three hours. The patient typically expresses the pain as a dull ache by clenching their fist over the epigastrium (the abdominal Levine sign).[5]
Patients who restrict their own food intake to prevent the pain of abdominal angina typically present with weight loss. Additionally, patients may experience changes in their bowel habits, most commonly diarrhea from malabsorption (which leads to weight loss) or less frequently constipation.[5]
The pathophysiology is similar to that seen in angina pectoris and intermittent claudication. The most common cause of abdominal angina is atherosclerotic vascular disease, where the occlusive process commonly involves the ostia and the proximal few centimeters of the mesenteric vessels.[citation needed]
It can be associated with:
^Kapadia S, Parakh R, Grover T, Agarwal S (2005). "Side-to-side aorto-mesenteric anastomosis for management of abdominal angina". Indian Journal of Gastroenterology. 24 (6): 256–7. PMID16424623.
^ abBiolato, Marco; Miele, Luca; Gasbarrini, Giovanni; Grieco, Antonio (2009). "Abdominal Angina". The American Journal of the Medical Sciences. 338 (5): 389–395. doi:10.1097/MAJ.0b013e3181a85c3b.
^deVries H, Wijffels RT, Willemse PH, et al. (2005). "Abdominal angina in patients with a midgut carcinoid, a sign of severe pathology". World Journal of Surgery. 29 (9): 1139–42. doi:10.1007/s00268-005-7825-x. PMID16086212. S2CID5949030.
^Ingu A, Morikawa M, Fuse S, Abe T (2003). "Acute occlusion of a simple aortic coarctation presenting as abdominal angina". Pediatric Cardiology. 24 (5): 488–9. doi:10.1007/s00246-002-0381-3. PMID14627320. S2CID12638082.
^Choi BG, Jeon HS, Lee SO, Yoo WH, Lee ST, Ahn DS (2002). "Primary antiphospholipid syndrome presenting with abdominal angina and splenic infarction". Rheumatol. Int. 22 (3): 119–21. doi:10.1007/s00296-002-0196-9. PMID12111088. S2CID22613047.
^Senechal Q, Massoni JM, Laurian C, Pernes JM (2001). "Transient relief of abdominal angina by Wallstent placement into an occluded superior mesenteric artery". The Journal of Cardiovascular Surgery. 42 (1): 101–5. PMID11292915.
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