A cocaine bender cost a man nearly two metres of bowel after his habit led to mesenteric ischaemia, say UK doctors, who are urging other medics to be alert to the complication.

Doctors from the Princess Royal University Hospital in London say the case highlights how cocaine use can cause “profound vasoconstriction” leading to GI tract complications that can be difficult to recognise.

“Abdominal pain with a history of cocaine use should prompt clinicians to consider mesenteric ischaemia in their differentials,” they wrote in BMJ Case Reports.

“A detailed recreational drug history is essential when reviewing patients with abdominal pain,” they added.