Mechanisms of bowel injury:
(1) progression in an existing lesion (peptic ulcer, diverticular disease, etc.)
(2) small vessel ischemia, sometimes with perforation
(3) large vessel ischemia with segmental bowel necrosis
(4) body packing-related issues (obstruction, massive drug release, etc.)
Different types of abdominal pain with peritonitis and intraperitoneal free air:
(1) rupture of peptic ulcer
(2) multiple juxtapyloric or proximal duodenal punctate perforations that measure 3 to 5 mm in length
Risk factors for peptic ulcer perforation:
(1) alcohol abuse
(2) Helicobacter pylori antritis
Different types of ischemic enteropathies with sepsis and multi-organ failure:
(1) segmental small bowel necrosis
(2) cecal necrosis
(3) ischemic colitis
Risk factors for vascular lesions:
(1) high doses of cocaine (typically seen with crack)
(2) hypercoagulable state
(3) alcohol abuse
