Enteritis

Causes and symptoms of enteritis

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What is enteritis?

Enteritis is characterized by violation of processes of digestion and absorption, the cause of the disease can become inflammatory and dystrophic changes in the mucosa of the small intestine.

Enteritis may be superficial, occurring with degenerative changes of enterocytes, or chronic, without concomitant atrophic processes. Depending on the changes of the functional characteristics enteritis can occur on the background of violations of membrane digestion, absorption or changes in bowel motility.

The causes of enteritis

Cause of enteritis can be infectious diseases, flowing with the defeat of the mucous membrane of the intestine (dysentery, salmonellosis, viral infection). The disease can occur due to worm infestation, giardiasis. Often the pathology of the intestines improper nutrition, exposure to various physical or chemical factors. Also enteritis may develop due to disorders of the digestive organs: stomach, liver, biliary tract and pancreas.

The symptoms of enteritis

The clinical picture of the disease is different severity of occurrence of pathological processes. The main enteropathy syndrome – malabsorption may be frequent or infrequent relapses. There are two phases of the disease: exacerbation and remission that can alternate.

The enteritis is accompanied by a violation of the functioning of the intestinal wall, resulting in a decrease in the activity of cell membranes, changing from the transport channels that contribute to the absorption of the decay products (ions and water). In the development of the disease the important role played by the malfunction of other organs of the digestion (enzymatic activity of the glands), as well as dysbiosis. In addition, the occurrence of relapses contribute to metabolic disorders and reduced immunity.

Clinic pathology depends on the specific disorders that accompany the disease, the main manifestation of enteritis remains a malabsorption syndrome and repetitive from time to time diarrhea. Cause of liquid stools is increased secretion of intestinal juice, high osmolality contents of the small intestine, and disorders of intestinal flora and the rapid passage of intestinal transit.

All symptoms are divided into two groups: intestinal and leaking out of the wallsof the intestine. To extraintestinal symptoms of the disease include malabsorption syndrome. It is expressed in decrease in body weight of patients and weight loss in some cases reaches 20 pounds, lethargy, irritability, sleep disturbance.

In addition, patients are observed trophic changes of the skin and its appendages: appears dry, thinning, and peeling of the top layers of the epidermis, brittle and loss of hair, thickening of the nail plate. When strong manifestations of hypoproteinemia is observed pasty skin, edema. Patients report muscle pain, muscle weakness, reduced tendon reflexes, paresis, palpitations. On the ECG, markedly reduced ST segment and flattening and dwuhfaznoe prong So Developing arrythmia, caused by the low concentration of potassium in the blood. In 2/3 of the patients noted the decrease in the level of calcium in the bloodstream that is accompanied by the development of muscle spasms of small muscles.

Some of the manifestations of diseases are associated with hypovitaminosis, which develops on the background of malabsorption of nutrients in the intestines. In this case, the symptoms of enteritis remind the clinic of the deficiency diseases, characteristic for deficiency of a number of vitamins: A, B2, C, D, B6, B12, E.

From the intestine also noted a number of symptoms, and development of pathological process only in the initial section of jejunum intestinal symptoms are less pronounced. When the inflammatory process affects the jejunum and ileum, is impaired absorption of bile acids, which in healthy people occurs in the distal intestine. The consequence of such violations becomes excessive, the flow of bile into the colon and diarrhea. The immediate cause of the change of chair is a high concentration of ions of sodium, chlorine, and the excess volume of water in the intestinal lumen due to the stimulatory effect of bile acids on these processes. The increase of the fecal mass stimulates motor function of the intestine.

Violations of the functioning of the ileocecal valve cause reflux of intestinal contents from the colon into the ileum and of contamination of its microbial flora. Prolonged reflux ileitis can cause the appearance of symptoms characteristic of vitamin B12 deficiency, in severe cases, enteritis occurs with symptoms of B12 deficiency anemia. Such manifestations of the disease are accompanied by pain in the right iliac region.

In addition, for enteritis characterized by pain in the middle part of the abdomen in the umbilical region, which appear after about three hours after a meal. They can becramping, dull or bursting. During the inspection and the determination of the projection of pain syndrome, marked tenderness in the region of the jejunum, namely the left above the navel, the physician may note the noise and splash in the intestinal loops, often in the region of the caecum.

The patient stool is liquid, rapid and yellow, the frequency reaches five or more times a day. Patients worried about bloating, rumbling in the intestines. The most difficult runs of juvenile diarrhoea.

Treatment of enteritis

In the treatment of enteritis is not recommended to take the medicine that slow down the motility of the intestine, as all the harmful substances in this case is not excreted and remain in the intestinal lumen. In this case it is better to take the treatment: activated carbon, use adsorbents. As a first aid to the patient (assuming complete lack of medicines in this group) could be asked to chew and swallow a teaspoon of black or green tea, it is necessary to drink a small amount of water.

The main in the treatment of enteritis is diet. In the first days it is better to refrain from eating, then patients are encouraged to drink up to 500 ml of rice-water a day. Food products are introduced into the diet of the patient gradually, and especially should avoid meals with a high content of coarse fibers and fiber.

Patients are not assigned pain medication, heat treatments are conducted only after exclusion of pathology requiring surgical intervention.