Clinical case of median arcuate ligament syndrome in the practice of a pediatric surgeon

Abstract

Recurrent abdominal pain in childhood and adolescence may be indicative of chronic mesenteric ischemia with median arcuate ligament syndrome as a result of compression of the celiac artery by the median arcuate ligament of the diaphragm and its internal crura, neurofibrous tissue of the celiac plexus. The presence of symptoms characteristic of various diseases of gastrointestinal tract organs, absence of pathognomonic signs and complex approach in diagnostics of abdominal cavity vascular system, insufficient awareness of specialists of children’s outpatient clinics determine the urgency of timely diagnostics and treatment of patients with this pathology. Median arcuate ligament syndrome, or Dunbar syndrome, is more often a congenital malformation. This syndrome can be considered as an acquired pathology in the case of compression of the celiac artery by enlarged lymph nodes and neurofibrous tissue of the celiac plexus. In addition to hemodynamically significant disorders of blood supply to the gastrointestinal tract, Dunbar syndrome in children and adolescents is also accompanied by psycho-emotional disorders due to the presence of unstable stools, recurrent abdominal pain, and often repeated ineffective requests for medical care. Clinical observation, methods of diagnosis and surgical treatment of median arcuate ligament syndrome in a 14-year-old patient are presented in the study.