Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0000729 (abdominal cramps)
 531 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The authors studied the surgical treatment of patients with intestinal endometriosis. A total of 10 patients, with a median age range of 43 years, underwent an operation. Cramp abdominal pain (100%), diarrhea (30%), constipation and enterorrhagia (20%) dominated the clinical picture. At the time of surgery, four patients presented intestinal obstructive symptoms. Five (50%) patients reported gynecological complaints. Four patients were infertile and five had prior surgical gynaecological events. Seven cases presented sigmoid involvement, and three had involvement of the cecal appendix. Pre-operative diagnosis was carried out in two patients only. Surgical indications were due to suspicion of cancer (4 patients), appendicitis (3 patients), diverticular disease (1 patient) and unmanageable pain (2 patients). The following procedures were performed: left colectomy (2 cases), rectosigmoidectomy (3 cases), sigmoidectomy (3 cases), colostomy (2 cases) and three appendicectomy cases associated with concomitant gynecological interventions. No postoperative complications or deaths were observed. The authors emphasize that intestinal stenotic lesions should be treated by means of extirpation while the parietal nodule should be treated by exeresis. Intestinal endometriosis should be suspected in cases of lower abdomen recurrent pain in premenopausal infertile women or with previous surgical, gynecological events associated with intestinal symptoms or distal colon stenosis.
 ...
PMID:Surgical treatment for colorectal endometriosis. 1053 83

Physical exercise is probably both beneficial and harmful for the gastrointestinal tract, depending partly on the training intensity. On the one hand, gastrointestinal symptoms such as heartburn, chest pain, nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, side ache and diarrhoea are common during heavy exercise. On the other hand, physical activity seems to protect from colon cancer, cholelithiasis and diverticular disease. Constipation has been shown to be related to inactivity. Despite this, no overwhelming evidence exists for a positive effect of physical exercise as a treatment option for chronic constipation. The reasons behind these somewhat discrepant effects are not understood fully. Altered gastrointestinal blood flow, effects on gastrointestinal motor function, neuroendocrine changes and mechanical effects are probably involved. Conflicting results exist regarding the effects of physical activity on gastrointestinal motility. Modern technologies now make motility studies in various parts of the gastrointestinal tract possible. More studies are needed to understand better the effects of physical exercise on the gastrointestinal tract. In particular, the relationship between the training intensity and duration and positive and negative alterations in gastrointestinal physiology needs to be addressed further.
 ...
PMID:Physical activity and the gastrointestinal tract. 1236 4

Jejunal diverticula are rare and usually asymptomatic; they occur twice as frequently in men. They are discovered incidentally during small-bowel enteroclysis, CT scan or laparotomy. Complications include diverticulitis, perforation, hemorrhage and enterolith formation. Intestinal obstruction due to enterolithiasis is uncommon. We present the association of enterolithiasis and jejunal diverticulosis causing obstruction of the small intestine in a 74-year-old female who was admitted for abdominal cramps, nausea and vomiting. On physical examination, there was discomfort on palpation of the upper abdomen. Laboratory tests revealed mild elevation of leucocytes and C-reactive protein. CT scan demonstrated dilatated loops of proximal jejunum with thickening of the wall, suggesting ingestion of a foreign body. Clinical and radiological findings did not indicate conservative therapy; our patient underwent minilaparotomy, and pronounced jejunal diverticulosis was identified. An enterotomy was performed and a cylindrical enterolith, 10cm long and 3cm in diameter, was removed. The operative and postoperative course was uneventful. Enterolithiasis must be considered as a potential source of intestinal obstruction. The differential diagnosis should take gallstone ileus and ingestion of a foreign body into consideration. Initial therapy is nonoperative; if this management fails, surgery is indicated.
 ...
PMID:Enterolithiasis in jejunal diverticulosis, a rare cause of obstruction of the small intestine: a case report. 1592 22

It is important to distinguish between diverticulosis, the presence of asymptomatic diverticula, and diverticular disease which refers to symptomatic cases which can present with acute or chronic symptoms. Chronic symptoms range from mild intermittent abdominal cramps to the more severe picture of chronic abdominal pain and occasional rectal bleeding. In contrast, acute diverticulitis refers to acute inflammation in the diverticula. Low dietary fibre intake is reported to increase the risk of diverticular disease. In the UK, the prevalence rises from approximately 5% of people in their 40s to almost 50% of those above the age of 80. It is estimated that 20% of patients with diverticulosis will develop symptoms at some point in their lifetime. Diverticular disease can be confirmed radiologically or endoscopically. Referral of patients with symptomatic diverticular disease to secondary care is not indicated unless: the symptoms affect their quality of life; the pain is not controlled by paracetamol; new symptoms develop which require further investigation; there are concerns about the possibility of an alternative diagnosis or patients develop red flag symptoms. Even in patients with established diverticulosis, a change in the clinical picture with development of red flag symptoms warrants urgent referral to rule out lower gastrointestinal malignancy. Patients with suspected uncomplicated acute diverticulitis should be assessed according to their level of pain and associated systemic features of sepsis. In those where pain is controlled and there are no signs of systemic sepsis or multiple comorbidities, the patient may be treated in primary care.
 ...
PMID:Diagnosing and treating diverticular disease. 2659 54