Acute non-obstructive necrotizing enterocolitis in adults is characterized by pathological features: it is an intestinal necrosis beginning in the mucosa, without obstruction of the mesenteric vessels. The disease occurs in a variety of circumstances which may be roughly divided into infections and fall in proximal or distal mesenteric flow rate, the infectious and circulatory mechanisms often coexisting. Little information on the diagnosis is provided by clinical and paraclinical data. Management is medical and/or surgical; it includes alleviation of the symptoms in intensive care unit, attempts at producing local vasodilation whenever possible and resection of the intestinal segment affected. In many cases the diagnosis is made at exploratory laparotomy. The prognosis is poor; it depends on the patient's age, on the extent of the lesions which sometimes require wide intestinal resections, and on the time to diagnosis.