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Query: UMLS:C0021843 (bowel obstruction)
 9,927 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) administered as a mixture of oxygen and compressed air via nasal prongs has dramatically improved survival rates and lessened the frequency of barotrauma and bronchopulmonary dysplasia in the premature infant with respiratory distress syndrome. Associated with the increased use of nasal CPAP has been the development of marked bowel distension (CPAP belly syndrome), which occurs as the infant's respiratory status improves and the baby becomes more vigorous. To identify contributing factors, we prospectively compared 25 premature infants treated with nasal CPAP with 29 premature infants not treated with nasal CPAP. Infants were followed up for development of distension, defined clinically as bulging flanks, increased abdominal girth, and visibly dilated intestinal loops. We evaluated birth weight, weight at time of distension, method of feeding (oral, orogastric tube), and treatment with nasal CPAP and correlated these factors with radiologic findings. Of the infants who received nasal CPAP therapy, gaseous bowel distension developed in 83% (10/12) of infants weighing less than 1000 g, but in only 14% (2/14) of those weighing at least 1000 g. Only 10% (3/29) of infants not treated with nasal CPAP had distension, and all three weighed less than 1000 g. Presence of sepsis and method of feeding did not correlate with occurrence of distension. Neither necrotizing enterocolitis nor bowel obstruction developed in any of the patients with a diagnosis of CPAP belly syndrome. Our study shows that nasal CPAP, aerophagia, and immaturity of bowel motility in very small infants were the major contributors to the development of benign gaseous bowel distension.
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PMID:Benign gaseous distension of the bowel in premature infants treated with nasal continuous airway pressure: a study of contributing factors. 172 37

Intestinal obstruction secondary to transverse colon volvulus in a 7-year-old girl with previously diagnosed pathologic aerophagia is presented. This unusual combination is not previously described.
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PMID:Transverse colon volvulus in a child with pathologic aerophagia. 379 54

Meteorism might be a symptom of organic intestinal obstruction, which needs surgical treatment in most cases. However it is often a functional phenomenon. It may be produced by aerophagy, followed by sonor, non fetid flatulence. Large amounts of gas are produced by the contact of gastric acidity with alcaline pancreatic secretion and by enzymatic digestion of food. Most of these gases are absorbed by the intestine and exhaled. In the colon bacterial fermentation and putrefaction produce fetid gas which is expulsed as flatus. Overeating, bacterial invasion of the small intestin, inflammatory and circulatory disturbances of the small bowel and obstipation favour meteorism. The treatment depends of the origin of meteorism.
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PMID:[Pathogenetic basis and therapeutic management of meteorism (author's transl)]. 611 Mar 77

In patients with repeated intestinal obstructions after open abdominal surgery, aerophagia associated with disturbances in gastrointestinal passage causes the accumulation of large amounts of air, resulting in chronic symptoms including abdominal pain and distention and consequently malnutrition. We successfully used percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) for long-term gastric decompression in 2 cases with aerophagia. The first case was a 69-year-old Japanese man admitted for repeated intestinal obstruction after an appendectomy. After the last surgery for intestinal obstruction, the patient experienced repeated abdominal distention and anorexia, resulting in weight loss and malnutrition. The second case was a 79-year-old man complaining of abdominal pain and distention. He had a history of resection of the lower pharynx and larynx owing to total laryngectomy and had received a permanent tracheostomy. He then underwent surgery for intestinal obstruction. Because the patients' abdominal symptoms were unresponsive to administration of a peristalsis stimulant and a laxative, we performed PEG to deflate the gastrointestinal tract. An abdominal x-ray taken after the PEG placement showed the elimination of the gas and a remarkable improvement in the gastric dilatation, and the abdominal symptoms soon disappeared. These cases highlight the clinical importance and usefulness of PEG for gastric decompression in patients with aerophagia associated with repeated intestinal obstruction.
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PMID:Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy for gastric decompression after repeated intestinal obstruction after open abdominal surgery. 1909 70