Untitled

Abstract

The first time I heard of mesenteric traction syndrome was three years into my training as an anesthesia resident. This first time was unfortunately intraoperatively while my patient was acutely unstable and mesenteric traction syndrome was part of my anesthesia team's differential diagnosis. Following this event I set out to educate myself about mesenteric traction syndrome and was shocked to find there was very little mention of it in the anesthesia literature, especially common textbooks that I had used throughout my residency to educate myself. The goal of this article is to present the literature on mesenteric traction that I encountered during my research and to provide a thorough review of the consensus on the etiology, pathophysiology, prevention and treatment of mesenteric traction syndrome. At the end of the review, I examine areas of mesenteric traction that need further investigation in order to fully understand mesenteric traction syndrome and what we can do, as anesthesiologists, to prevent it and appropriately treat it.