1 - Overview of GI Flashcards
What are the functions of the gut?
Provide a port of entry for food into the body Mechanically disrupt food Temporarily store food Chemically digest food Kill pathogens in food Move food along GI tract Absorb nutrients from resulting solution Eliminate residual waste material
What are the accessory organs of the GI tract?
Salivary glands
Liver
Gallbladder
Pancreas
What is the order food passes through the GI tract in?
Mouth Stomach Duodenum Jejunum Ileum Cecum Anus
How does the stomach turn food into chyme?
Upper area creates basal tone through slow and sustained contractions
Lower area has powerful peristaltic contractions that grind food, via thick layer of muscle distally
These together liquify food into chyme
How does the stomach act as an effective storage facility?
Rugae allows stomach to distend when full, and fold up when empty
Receptive reflex - gastric fundus (upper stomach) dilates when food passes the oesophagus so intraluminal pressures don’t increase so much
How is food chemically digested?
Saliva - Amylase (starch) and lipase (fats)
Stomach - HCl and pepsin (protein)
Duodenum/jejunum - Bile and exocrine pancreas hormones
What defence mechanisms does the GI system have against pathogens?
Saliva
HCL
Liver - kupffer cells
Peyers patches - organised into lymphoid follicles, in the submucosa in terminal ileum and distal jejunum
What types of movement occur in the GI tract?
Peristalsis
Segmentation
Haustral shuttling
Mass movements
What structural features of the gut aid in absorption?
Length of the gut
Folds
Microvilli
Increase SA
What is the function of the mouth?
Physical breakdown of food
Initial digestive enzymes released
Infection control
What is the function of the oesophagus?
Rapid transport of bolus to stomach through thorax
Upper: Prevents air from entering GI tract
Lower: Prevents reflux into oesophagus
What is the function of the stomach?
Storage facility
Produce chyme (physical/chemical breakdown/start digestion)
Infection control
Secretion of intrinsic factor (for vit B12 absorption)
What is the function of the duodenum?
Neutralisation of chyme (via HCO3 secretion)
More digestion of chyme (bile and pancreatic secretions)
What is the function of jejunum/ileum?
Finish digestion Nutrient absorption - mostly jejunum Water/electrolyte absorption - mostly ileum Bile recirculation - ileum B12 absorption - terminal ileum
What is the function of the large bowel?
Final electrolyte and water absorption (via AQP channels against con gradient)
What is the function of the rectum?
Defaecation
What is the peritoneal cavity?
Potential space found between the parietal and visceral peritoneum
What is contained in the peritoneal cavity and what is its function?
Peritoneal fluid
Acts a lubricant, enabling free movement of abdominal viscera and contains antibodies that fight infection
Why is the peritoneal cavity considered a potential space?
Normally very thin but excess fluid can accumulate, causing ascites
What are the causes of ascites?
Portal hypertension, secondary to liver cirrhosis Peritonitis Infection GI malignancies malnutrition Right sided heart failure
Define peritonitis
Infection and inflammation of the peritoneum, fluid is secreted into the peritoneal cavity
What are the causes of peritonitis?
Secondary to infection elsewhere in the GI tract eg
Burst appendix
Acute pancreatitis
Gastric ulcer eroding through wall of stomach
Bacterial contamination during a laparotomy (surgical incision of the peritoneum)
What is guarding and when does it occur?
When the anterolateral abdominal muscles contract to protect the viscera, during peritonitis
Why do patients with peritonitis lie with their knees flexed?
In an effort to relax the contracting anterolateral abdominal wall muscles
Why is generalised peritonitis a problem?
Can result in sepsis
Why are patients with ascites encouraged to sit upright?
Encourages the flow of ascitic fluid into the pelvis via the paracolic gutters, where toxins are absorbed more slowly
When are the paracolic gutters involved in spreading disease?
Provide a route for the spread of intraperitoneal infections and cancer metastases
What are the paracolic gutters?
Peritoneal recesses on the posterior abdominal wall, next to ascending or descending colon
How is the peritoneal cavity divided?
Into greater and lesser peritoneal sacs
How is the greater sac divided?
Split in two by the mesentery of the transverse colon
Supracolic compartment: Contains stomach, liver and spleen
Infracolic compartment: Contains small intestine, ascending and descending colon. Split into left and right infracolic spaces by the mesentery of the small intestine
What connects the supra and infracolic compartments?
The paracolic gutters
What are the subphrenic spaces?
Recesses in the greater sac of the peritoneal cavity between diaphragmatic surface of the liver and the diaphragm