[1] The acute form of the disease often presents with sudden severe abdominal pain and is associated with a high risk of death.

[1] Treatment of acute ischemia may include stenting or medications to break down the clot provided at the site of obstruction by interventional radiology.

[2][8] Acute intestinal ischemia affects about five per hundred thousand people per year in the developed world.

The first device approved by the U.S. FDA (in 2004) used visible light spectroscopy to analyze capillary oxygen levels.

Though it has serious risks, angiography provides the possibility of direct infusion of vasodilators in the setting of nonocclusive ischemia.

People are admitted to the hospital for resuscitation with intravenous fluids, careful monitoring of laboratory tests, and optimization of their cardiovascular function.

NG tube decompression and heparin anticoagulation may also be used to limit stress on the bowel and optimize perfusion, respectively.

[citation needed] Surgical revascularisation remains the treatment of choice for intestinal ischaemia related to an occlusion of the vessels supplying the bowel, but thrombolytic medical treatment and vascular interventional radiological techniques have a growing role.

[40] It has also been defined as poor circulation in the vessels supplying blood flow to any or several of the mesenteric organs, including the stomach, liver, colon and intestine.

Although uncommon in the general population, ischemic colitis occurs with greater frequency in the elderly, and is the most common form of bowel ischemia.

Ischemic colitis can span a wide spectrum of severity; most patients are treated supportively and recover fully, while a minority with very severe ischemia may develop sepsis and become critically,[47] sometimes even fatally, ill.[48] Patients with mild to moderate ischemic colitis are usually treated with IV fluids, analgesia, and bowel rest (that is, no food or water by mouth) until the symptoms resolve.

Those with severe ischemia who develop complications such as sepsis, intestinal gangrene, or bowel perforation may require more aggressive interventions, such as surgery and intensive care.