DIARRHOEA Flashcards
Define diarrhoea
- Abnormal passage of loose or liquid stool more than 3 times daily
What is acute diarrhoea
Lasting less than 2 weeks
What is chronic diarrhoea
Lasting more than 2 weeks
What is acute diarrhoea caused by
Infection
How and why is acute diarrhoea diagnosed under certain circumstances
- Flexible sigmoidoscopy with colonic biopsy is performed if symptoms persist and no diagnosis has been made
How do we treat acute diarrhoea
- Maintain hydration + antidiarrhoeal agents for short-term relief and antibiotics for specific indications
Name an antidiarrhoeal agent
LOPERAMIDE HYDROCHLORIDE
What causes chronic diarrhoea
Organic causes:
Associated with changes in organ structure or tissue = symptoms (increased stool weights)
Functional causes:
Condition in which there is no physical cause for symptoms (frequent passage of low volume and weight stools such as IBS)
How is chronic diarrhoea distinguished from organic and functional causes
Faecal markers of intestinal inflammation
What points to an infective cause of diarrhoea
Sudden onset of bowel frequency associated with crampy abode pain and fever will point to an infective cause
What points to an inflammatory cause of diarrhoea
Bowel frequency with loose, blood-stained stools
What is STEATORRHEA
Passage of pale, offensive stools that float
Accompanied by loss of appetite and weight loss
Excess fat in stools
What causes decreased stool consistency
- Water
- Microscopic colitis
- Fat (Steatorrhoea)
- Inflammatory discharge
How does water reduce consistency of faeces
- Large quantities of non-absorbed hypertonic substances in bowel lame draw fluid into the intestines
- Diarrhoea stops when patient stops eating or malabsorptive state is discontinued
a) . Ingestion of non-absorbable substances
b) . Generalised malabsorption so that high conc. of solute (glucose remains in the lumen)
c) . Specific malabropstive defects
What is microscopic colitis
- Active intestinal secretion of fluid and electrolytes as well as decreased absorption
- Continues even when patient fasts
What three things cause microscopic colitis
- Enterotoxins (E.coli)
- Bile alts in colon following ileal disease, resection or idiopathic bile acid malabsorption
- Fatty acids in colon following ileal resection
What characterises stools in steatorrhoea
- Increased gas
- Offensive smell
- Floating hard-to-flush stools
What conditions can cause steatorrhoea
- Giardiasis
2. Coeliac disease
What is giardiasis
Infection of intestines by protozoa
How does inflammatory discharge effect stool consistency
- Damage to intestinal mucosal cells lead to a loss of fluid and blood and defective absorption of fluid and electrolytes
Causes of inflammatory discharge
- Infective (Salmonella or Shigella)
2. Inflammatory (UC or Crohn’s)
Where is infective diarrhoea most common
Africa and S. Asia
Risk factors for infective diarrhoea
- Foreign travel
- PPI or H2 antagonist use
- Crowded areas
- Poor hygiene
What virus causes infective diarrhoea in children
- Rotavirus - effects nearly ALL children by age of 4
What virus causes infective diarrhoea in adults
- Norovirus
2. Campylobacter
Other than rotavirus and norovirus, what other viruses can cause infective diarrhoea
- Adenovirus
2. Astrovirus
Most common cause of bacterial caused infective diarrhoea
- Campylobacter jejuni
How is campylobacter jejune acquired
Poultry
What bacteria are most common in children
- E.coli
- Salmonella
- Shigella spp.