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Query: UMLS:C0740441 (acute diarrhea)
 2,275 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Loperamide, a butyramide derivative is a new agent for use in symptomatic control of acute non-specific diarrhoea and chronic diarrhoea. Unlike diphenoxylate or codeine, loperamide does not appear to exert opiate activity in man at normal therapeutic doses. In acute diarrhoea, loperamide provides more rapid control of symptoms than diphenoxylate when given in a flexible dosage according to unformed bowel movements, and in single dose studies 4mg loperamide has a much longer duration of effect than 5mg diphenoxylate. Loperamide is probably superior to diphenoxylate in providing symptomatic control of chronic diarrhoea such as that associated with chronic inflammatory bowel disease or following gastrointestinal surgery. It has been used for up to 3 years in such conditions without evidence of tolerance. The possibility of once daily dosage of loperamide in chronic diarrhoea is an advantage. Side-effects have not proved a problem.
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PMID:Loperamide: a review of its pharmacological properties and therapeutic efficacy in diarrhoea. 34 29

Diarrhoea is defined as the frequent passage of loose or watery stools. Most patients can easily recognise and accurately define acute diarrhoea as an abrupt change in their bowel habits. Chronic or recurrent diarrhoea is more difficult for the patient to define, since it may mean malabsorption, tenesmus or true diarrhoea. Serious disorders not to be missed include neoplasia, AIDS, various serious infections such as amoebiasis, and inflammatory bowel disease.
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PMID:Diarrhoea. 152 Jan 38

Classification criteria for most of the disorders belonging to the spondylarthropathy group already exist. However, the spectrum of spondylarthropathy is wider than the sum of these disorders suggests. Seronegative oligoarthritis, dactylitis or polyarthritis of the lower extremities, heel pain due to enthesitis, and other undifferentiated cases of spondylarthropathy have been ignored in epidemiologic studies because of the inadequacy of existing criteria. In order to define classification criteria that also encompass patients with undifferentiated spondylarthropathy, we studied 403 patients with all forms of spondylarthropathy and 674 control patients with other rheumatic diseases. The diagnoses were based on the local clinical expert's opinion. The 403 patients included 168 with ankylosing spondylitis, 68 with psoriatic arthritis, 41 with reactive arthritis, 17 with inflammatory bowel disease and arthritis, and 109 with unclassified spondylarthropathy. Based on statistical analysis and clinical reasoning, we propose the following classification criteria for spondylarthropathy: inflammatory spinal pain or synovitis (asymmetric or predominantly in the lower limbs), together with at least 1 of the following: positive family history, psoriasis, inflammatory bowel disease, urethritis, or acute diarrhea, alternating buttock pain, enthesopathy, or sacroiliitis as determined from radiography of the pelvic region. These criteria resulted in a sensitivity of 87% and a specificity of 87%. The proposed classification criteria are easy to apply in clinical practice and performed well in all 7 participating centers. However, we regard them as preliminary until they have been further evaluated in other settings.
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PMID:The European Spondylarthropathy Study Group preliminary criteria for the classification of spondylarthropathy. 193 Mar 11

Many patients who present with acute or chronic diarrhea do not have an important organic disease. Most have functional diarrhea. The history, clinical examination, and initial laboratory studies should lead to a provisional diagnosis with respect to organic or functional origin and help define whether the disease affects the small or large intestine. Specific studies are then obtained to define organic causes. The most common causes of acute diarrhea are infections and drugs, while the most common causes of chronic diarrhea are inflammatory bowel disease, malabsorption, parasitic infections, carcinoma of the large bowel, and metabolic diseases. Clinicians should remember that patients with functional diarrhea are as prone to other severe disease as the rest of the population and avoid allowing the functional problem to mask other signs.
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PMID:Diagnosis and therapy of acute and chronic diarrhea. 231 56

When a patient presents with acute diarrhoea, the most important question is whether it represents the first episode of chronic inflammatory bowel disease (CIBD) or acute self-limited colitis (ASLC). The early changes in the rectal mucosa of patients with ASLC have been claimed to be highly diagnostic, the presence of an unspecific inflammatory infiltrate in the lamina propria and the absence of disturbances in the crypt architecture being the characteristic features. Thirty-two patients who in the period 1980-1984 presented with their first episode of acute diarrhoea and whose rectal mucosa showed these histologic features were followed up for 1.5-7 years. Forty-one per cent of the patients were finally classified as having ASLC and 28% as having diseases other than CIBD or ASLC. Thirty-one per cent eventually developed CIBD. Thus the features claimed to be diagnostic of ASLC could not predict the final outcome of the disease in patients presenting for the first time with acute diarrhoea. The histologic interpretation can provide significant information in these patients but should never replace a careful clinical judgement and, if doubt remains, further observation of the patients.
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PMID:The final outcome of patients presenting with their first episode of acute diarrhoea and an inflamed rectal mucosa with preserved crypt architecture. A clinicopathologic study. 292 31

When a patient presents for the first time with acute diarrhoea, it can be difficult to distinguish acute self-limited colitis from idiopathic inflammatory bowel disease. This study was designed to determine whether detailed interpretation of rectal histology can enable this distinction to be made early in the course of the illness. Seventy-two rectal biopsies, taken at the time of presentation from patients with undiagnosed colitis, were reviewed independently by two observers without access to clinical information. Distorted crypt architecture, crypt atrophy, basal lymphoid aggregates and dense lymphocytic infiltrates each emerged as features with a 76 to 86 per cent probability of predicting idiopathic inflammatory bowel disease, but their discriminant value was limited by inter-observer disagreement (16-29 per cent). Isolated basal giant cells, epithelial surface erosions and epithelioid granulomas were found to be the most reliable histological features in the early diagnosis of idiopathic inflammatory bowel disease, and their interpretation was associated with the lowest inter-observer disagreement (6 per cent).
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PMID:The value of rectal biopsy in distinguishing self-limited colitis from early inflammatory bowel disease. 345 54

Colonic dilatation has been reported as an occasional complication of infectious colitis in single case reports and short series, but no large series has been published. We analysed 19 cases of self-limited colitis complicated by colonic dilatation, with infective agents identified in 14, admitted to a Regional Infectious Diseases Unit. Colonic dilatation, defined as a minimum transverse colonic diameter of 7 cm on plain abdominal X-ray, was associated with approximately 1% of cases of notifiable diarrhoea requiring hospital admission. The clinical course was associated with pyrexia (in 90%), tachycardia (in 90%), hypoalbuminaemia (in 100%), anaemia (in 84%) and reactive thrombocytosis (in 63%). There was a history of antidiarrhoeal agents or opiate analgesia in eighteen patients (95%). Intensive medical management, consisting of intravenous antibiotics, steroids, supplementary nutrition and withdrawal of anti-motility agents, resulted in resolution in 17 patients. Two patients required subtotal colectomy for perforation of the transverse colon, but neither developed severe peritonitis, and both subsequently underwent reversal of ileostomy. With early recognition and close observation of colonic dilatation in patients with acute diarrhoea, most cases can be successfully managed conservatively with preservation of the colon. Surgical intervention should be considered in patients with progressive colonic dilatation despite intensive medical management. There were no clinically useful parameters distinguishing self-limited colitis from inflammatory bowel disease acutely, so initial management should cover both possibilities.
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PMID:Dilatation of the colon complicating acute self-limited colitis. 814 Feb 18

Interest in imported tropical diseases has increased with the rising number of travellers to the tropics. This is especially true in the case of tropical gastroenterologic disorders. The causative organisms of chronic diarrhoea are different from those causing acute diarrhoea. Bacteria are relatively unusual; parasites, e.g. Entamoeba histolytica or Giardia lamblia or an opportunistic parasitic infestation associated with an HIV infection are more likely. Furthermore, non-infectious causes, such as postinfective tropical malabsorption, lactase deficiency or coeliac disease have to be considered. Today, elderly people often undertake a journey to the tropics; in these cases the diarrhoea may be associated not only with an increased susceptibility to tropical bowel infections but also with causes previously present, such as diverticulosis, carcinoma or inflammatory bowel disease. The classification of chronic diarrhoea following a visit to the tropics is essentially the same as that for acute diarrhoea: diarrhoea with and without fever and with and without blood. In addition, malabsorption is an important feature of chronic diarrhoea.
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PMID:'The tropics in our bathroom': chronic diarrhoea after return from the tropics. 857 32

We review the pathophysiology of intestinal water and electrolyte transport leading to diarrhoea, the currently available pharmacological strategies for its treatment, and the economic implications of such treatments. Diarrhoea occurs most frequently and is associated with highest mortality in children under 5. Oral rehydration therapy (ORT) is the cornerstone of its management. The safety and efficacy of ORT in the prevention of death from dehydration, both in field and also in hospital settings, are now well established. Because it is also inexpensive, ORT is widely applicable worldwide. More recently, rice-based ORT has emerged, based on well known traditional remedies for diarrhoea in southeast Asia and the Far East. Rice-based ORT has the advantage of being more culturally acceptable, readily available even in rural homes in developing countries, and is more effective in reducing stool output and the duration of diarrhoea, compared with conventional glucose-electrolyte solutions such as World Health Organization ORT. For infants, the well known antidiarrhoeal properties of human milk needs emphasis for a variety of reasons including economic ones. Data concerning the economic benefits to a nations' health budget as a result of nationwide implementation of oral rehydration solution (ORS) use are limited. Available data from individual centres in developing countries, if projected to national level, would incur considerable economic advantage. Except for a few notable infections such as shigellosis, cholera, amoebiasis and giardiasis, the widespread use of antibiotics in acute diarrhoea, still a common practice in many developing countries, has no proven value and may be detrimental. The economic implications of antibiotic abuse in the treatment of diarrhoea in developing countries is enormous. Despite the availability of a wide spectrum of pharmacological agents for diarrhoea reviewed in this article, only a few such agents are of proven clinical efficacy: corticosteroids, aminosalicylates and immunosuppressants in the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease and opioid derivatives such as loperamide which may be useful in protracted diarrhoea in children and in disorders where rapid gastrointestinal transit is the main cause of diarrhoea. Opioids are not recommended for acute infective diarrhoea in childhood. Octreotide, a somatostatin analogue, is reported to be useful in the treatment of secretory diarrhoea due to noninfective causes and in the treatment of intractable diarrhoea associated with AIDS. Its high cost and need for parenteral administration prevent its wider application.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
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PMID:Pharmacoeconomics of the therapy of diarrhoeal disease. 1015 Jan 56

With worldwide use of oral rehydration solutions, the treatment of acute diarrhea does not pose much of a problem. However, chronic diarrhea is still harmful, especially for the growth and development status of the children. Between January 1993 to December 1996, patients who suffered from chronic diarrhea for more than one month duration and admitted to Dr. Sami Ulus Children's Hospital were evaluated for epidemiological and etiologic factors. Seventy consecutive patients were evaluated. The mean age was 40.8 months and 52% were males. Malnutrition was detected in 80% of cases. Etiologic factors included celiac disease 30%, cow milk allergy 17%, bacterial and parasitic factors 26%, cystic fibrosis 10% and postinfectious gastroenteritis 10%. Eosinophilic gastroenteritis, chronic nonspecific diarrhea, pseudo-obstruction, neurofibromatosis and inflammatory bowel disease were rarely detected. Celiac disease and cow milk allergy were implicated as the most common causes of chronic diarrhea. The vicious cycle of faulty nutrition, malnutrition and infection and postinfectious enteropathy were also significant factors in the etiology of chronic diarrhea. It may be considered that cow milk protein prick test, sweat test, immunologic tests and mucosal biopsies should be performed for the definite diagnosis of chronic diarrhea.
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PMID:Etiology of chronic diarrhea. 1079 25


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