Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0021843 (bowel obstruction)
 9,927 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

A hospice-care program offers an opportunity to provide effective palliative care for patients terminally ill with malignant disease and to develop improved methods for coping with the problems of the dying patient. All patients for whom antitumor therapy does not offer a reasonable possibility of cure are eligible for Church Hospital's multidisciplinary program, the focus of which is on both the patient and his family. Acceptance by medical staff, patients and families has been enthusiastic. Both conventional and unconventional methods can be helpful in making terminally ill patients more comfortable. Much has been learned about the control of pain in such patients. Intestinal obstruction can often be managed non-operatively without the use of nasogastric tube. Other common symptoms such as weakness, anorexia, depression, dyspnea, etc. can be relieved with varying degrees of success. An objective of the program is to allow the patient to be at home for most of his terminal illness and to die there if possible. By utilizing patient and family instruction, visiting nurses and home health aides, approximately two-thirds of the patients in the program at any given time are at home. Basing the program in an acute care hospital has allowed coordination with the curative treatment of malignant disease and effective use of radiation and chemotherapy for palliative purposes. The organizational structure, financing, facilities and clinical experience with 100 consecutive patients of the Church Hospital hospice-care program are described.
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PMID:Experience with a hospice-care program for the terminally ill. 8 9

The autopsy case of an 80-year-old female with pseudomyxoma peritonei arising in the left ovary is reported. The patient was admitted with complaints of anorexia, sense of fullness and abdominal distension of two months' duration, and died of intestinal obstruction four months later. The autopsy revealed extensive tumor dissemination over the entire peritoneal cavity without any visceral invasion or distant metastasis. A part of the sigmoid colon showed marked stenosis and perforation with abscess formation. Histologically, the tumor was composed of various sized multiple cysts which were completely or incompletely lined by a layer of mucin-producing columnar epithelial cells with moderate nuclear hyperchromatism, and of a papillary pattern in some parts, indicating low grade malignancy.
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PMID:Pseudomyxoma peritonei of ovarian origin--an autopsy case. 16 72

Eight cases of abdominal tuberculosis (5 indigenous and 3 immigrants) treated in Cardiff in the 5-year period 1972-6 were studied to determine clinical presentation, errors in diagnosis and usefulness of investigations. The heterogeneous presentation is reflected in the 7 types of lesion seen in the 8 cases. Anorexia and weight loss were present in all cases and abdominal colic and post-prandial discomfort were common. No patient had diarrhoea, constipation or intestinal obstruction. The clinical diagnosis was wrong 7 out of 8 times. Investigations were unhelpful in the diagnosis and where a lesion was found on barium studies, a diagnosis of Crohn's disease or carcinoma was made. The same was true of the findings at laparotomy. The examinations most useful in the diagnosis were histopathological examination for caseation and demonstration of acid-fast bacilli by alcohol and acid-fast tissue stains, or by a culture technique. The need for a greater awareness of abdominal tuberculosis, not only in immigrants but also in the indigenous population of Britain, is apparent.
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PMID:Abdominal tuberculosis in the 1970s: a continuing problem. 65 57

The diagnosis of Crohn's disease in 13 patients (ten females and three males) at the Howard University Hospital during the ten-year period, 1965-1975, is examined. The most common presenting symptoms were right lower quadrant (RLQ) pain, diarrhea, anorexia, weight loss, and vomiting, while the most common physical finding was RLQ tenderness. Ileocolic involvement occurred most frequently. Eight patients had surgical resection. The most frequent operation was ileocolic resection with ileo-ascending colostomy. The chief indications for surgery were: (1) presumed appendicitis, (2) intestinal obstruction, and (3) internal fistulae.Crohn's disease seems to occur in blacks much less frequently than in whites. When compared to series of white patients reported by others, the series studied here has more females and more ileocolic involvement. In most other series, the greatest involvement is in the "ileum only" group.
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PMID:Crohn's disease in black patients. 85 35

Fifty-one children under the age of 10 years admitted to a general hospital in Trinidad had a confirmed diagnosis of malrotation of the intestines. This was the primary diagnosis in 20 cases. Analysis of the records of these 20 revealed that one-half were less than 1 month of age at first presentation. Vomiting was a universal complaint, and nearly two-thirds were malnourished. Disturbed bowel habit, anorexia and abdominal pain were also reported. In 30% (six of 20) there were signs of dehydration; an equal number had features of intestinal obstruction. Radiological investigation provided the diagnosis in all but one child, who underwent surgical exploration with a provisional diagnosis of appendicitis. Although a volvulus was found in 35% of cases, no resections were necessary. A high rate of morbidity and a mortality rate of 15% highlight the problems involved in the surgical care of young infants.
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PMID:Intestinal malrotation in Trinidad. 140 41

Gallbladder cancer afflicts predominantly women, the elderly, and persons with gallstones. Despite its producing symptoms of abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting, weight loss, jaundice, and anorexia, this disease remains difficult to detect. Even with contemporary imaging techniques, most gallbladder cancers escape diagnosis until the time of laparotomy. The aggressive character of this malignancy permits an overall 5-year survival rate of 3-5%. Although cures occur, the majority of operations performed for gallbladder cancer are for palliation. The objects of palliation include relief of pain, relief of jaundice, relief of intestinal obstruction, and the restoration of normal food intake. Resection of the tumor should be performed whenever possible; however, extensive operations including large liver resections and pancreaticoduodenectomy should be avoided in the presence of distant metastases. In the presence of large unresectable hilar masses, internal biliary bypass may relieve jaundice. Biliary-enteric anastomosis using the segment III duct exposed via the umbilical fissure may offer satisfactory relief of jaundice in selected cases.
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PMID:Palliative operative procedures for carcinoma of the gallbladder. 137 59

In a double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover trial, we investigated the effects of the prokinetic drug cisapride in patients with cystic fibrosis and chronic recurrent distal intestinal obstruction syndrome (DIOS). After a baseline period, 17 patients (12.9 to 34.9 years; 12 boys) received, in random order, cisapride (7.5 to 10 mg) and placebo three times daily by mouth, each for 6 months. Gastrointestinal symptoms (flatulence, abdominal pain, fullness, abdominal distension, nausea, anorexia, heartburn, diarrhea, vomiting and regurgitation) were scored three times monthly and physical examinations assessed. At baseline and at each 6-month period, assessment included food intake for 7 days, 3-day stool collection, pulmonary function tests, and abdominal radiographs. During cisapride therapy compared with placebo, there were significant reductions in flatulence (p less than 0.005), fullness, and nausea (p less than 0.05). Patients with the worst symptom scores benefited most from cisapride. With cisapride, 12 patients felt better and three worse (p less than 0.05); physicians judged 11 patients improved and two worse (p less than 0.05). No side effects were noted. There were no significant differences between cisapride and placebo periods in nutritional status, x-ray scores, pulmonary function, food intake (fat, protein, calories), stool size and consistency, and fecal losses of fat, bile acids, chymotrypsin, and calories. For acute episodes of DIOS, intestinal lavage was needed 6 times in 4 patients during treatment with cisapride, and 11 times in 6 patients receiving placebo. In comparison with unselected patients with cystic fibrosis and pancreatic insufficiency who were receiving enzyme supplements and who had no distal intestinal obstruction, fecal fat losses (percentage of intake) were almost twice as high in the study group with DIOS (31.2 +/- 20.6% vs 16.2 +/- 17.6%; p less than 0.01). We conclude that in the dosage used, long-term treatment with cisapride appears to improve chronic abdominal symptoms in patients with cystic fibrosis and DIOS, but fails to abolish the need for intestinal lavage. Cisapride treatment had no effect on digestion and nutritional status of cystic fibrosis patients with pancreatic insufficiency.
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PMID:Effects of cisapride in patients with cystic fibrosis and distal intestinal obstruction syndrome. 223 Dec 17

The authors present one case of intestinal obstruction by volvulus of the cecum. The patient had abdominal pain for 4 days. This pain was colicky in nature and of greatest in density in the left iliac fossa. He was nauseated, had anorexia, and had been vomiting. Abdominal distension was present. Plain-roentgenogram of the abdomen showed an enormously distended gas-filled intestinal loop in the upper abdomen just to the left of midline. At surgery there was volvulus of the cecum located in the upper abdomen to the left of midline. The cecum was viable and was relocated in the right lower quadrant and secured to the antero-lateral abdominal wall (cecopexy). The patient made a good postoperative recovery.
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PMID:[Volvulus of the cecum. A case report]. 260 86

Intestinal tuberculosis is still common in developing countries. In 186 patients with intestinal tuberculosis, clinical features, radiological findings and complications were carefully recorded and compared with those from earlier studies with a view to study any possible changes after the liberal use of antitubercular drugs. Sixty two percent of the patients in the present series had had prior exposure to antitubercular drugs. The incidence of systemic symptoms like fever and anorexia, alternating diarrhoea and constipation, peritoneal and lymph node involvements and associated pulmonary lesions were less frequently observed. On the other hand, an indolent and complicated course with intestinal obstruction (47%) and lower gastrointestinal bleeding (5.5%) and frequent colonic involvement (19%) often necessitating surgical intervention appeared to have become more frequent than reported in earlier series. Awareness of these changes in the clinical profile of intestinal tuberculosis should be helpful in the diagnosis and management of the condition.
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PMID:A clinico-radiological reappraisal of intestinal tuberculosis--changing profile? 369 97

A chart review from 1975 to 1985 at the Toronto Western Hospital identified 16 patients (9 women and 7 men, between the ages of 39 and 83 years) with gastrointestinal phytobezoars. Nine had previously undergone vagotomy and drainage procedures. There were two distinct clinical groups, dependent on the location gastric bezoars presented with chronic burning epigastric pain and nausea and vomiting in addition to anorexia and weight loss. Six of seven patients with small-bowel bezoars had acute small-bowel obstruction, manifested by crampy abdominal pain, vomiting and obstipation. In the seventh patient the bezoar was found incidentally in an efferent loop during endoscopy. Gastric bezoars were all diagnosed by endoscopy; patients with small-bowel bezoars had x-ray films compatible with small-bowel obstruction. The obstructing small-bowel bezoars were found at midileum and proximal jejunum. Five patients underwent proximal enterotomy with bezoar removal; in one the bezoar was milked distally into the cecum. One patient also had multiple nonobstructing small-bowel bezoars removed through the single enterotomy and another had a separate gastrotomy for removal of a gastric bezoar. The postoperative courses were uncomplicated except for wound infection in one patient. None of the patients with an isolated gastric bezoar required surgery. Three patients were successfully treated with gastric lavage and the others with clear fluid diet.
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PMID:Gastrointestinal phytobezoars: presentation and management. 377 44


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