Gastro-Intestinal Diseases Flashcards
Definition of dysphagia
Difficulty swallowing
Definition of heartburn
Retrosternal burning, common symptom of acid reflux
Definition of dyspepsia
Range of symptoms referring to upper GI tract including nausea, heartburn, acidity and pain
Definition of flatulence
Passing excess wind (belching, abdominal distention or passing of flatus per rectum)
Definition of vomiting
Stimulation of vomiting centres in lateral reticular formation of medulla. Either from stimulation of chemoreceptor trigger zones in the floor of the 4th ventricle or vagal afferents from the gut.
Nausea and vomiting with pain indicative of
GI origin
Nausea and vomiting without pain indicative of and examples
non-GI origin. Eg, CNS disease (raised intracranial pressures), drugs (chemo) or metabolic agents (uraemia, diabetic ketoacidosis)
Definition of constipation
Mean infrequent passage of stools (<2 per week) or difficulty passage of hard stool
Definition of diarrhea
Increased amounts of loose stool (>250g/day)
Definition of steatorrhoea and cause
Increased passage of pale, bulky stools that contain fat. Indicative of fat malabsorption as a result of small bowel, pancreatic or biliary disease.
Valve between distal end of oesophagus and stomach. How this valve opens/closes. Failure of this valve to open and outcome
Cardiac sphincter. Normally closed. Opens shortly after swallowing. After propelling bolus through peristalsis, the wave shuts it and prevents reflex. Failure of cardiac sphincter to open is known as achalasia. Leads to an accumulation of food in the oesophagus.
4 secretions of the stomach
Gastrin, gastric juice, bile and intrinsic factor
What is absorbed in the stomach
Water, alcohol and aspirin
Relationship of gastrin and gastric juice. Sequence of events after secretion.
Gastrin released from gastric antrum (in response to presence of food) and from duodenum (in response to presence of chyme). Gastrin stimulates secretion of gastric juice.
Increased gastrin leads to increased gastric juice leads to increased pepsin, increased gastric motility, enhancing growth of gastric and duodenal mucosa
What causes stimulation of mucous
Mucosal irritation (mechanical or chemical)
Acid in lumen of stomach
Vagal and sympathetic stimulation
Importance of intrinsic factor
Aids absorption of vitamin B12 from distal ileum
What does gastric motility cause
Mixes stomach contents with gastric juice
Converts to semi-liquid chyme
Propels contents through the stomach and into duodenum
Bile produced, stored and secreted?
Produced in liver, stored and concentrated in gall bladder and released into duodenum
Where does the oesophagus enter the diaphragm
Right and left crus
Common symptoms of problems with the oesophagus
Cough/vomiting (if foods/liquids do not pass normally to the stomach, causing them to reflux back to the pharynx), pain (maybe from acid reflux or spasm) and dysphagia. Sometimes vomiting blood which is known as haematemesis.
Common diseases associated with the oesophagus
Achalasia pharyngeal pouches oesophageal web carcinoma of the oesophagus Peptic ulcer disease/reflux Oesophageal spasm
Anatomy of the pharynx
3 overlapping constrictor muscles: superior, middle and inferior
Inferior constrictors include cricopharyngeus and thyropharyngeus
Name and cause of potential weakness in the oesophagus. Clinical significance
Meeting point of the 2 parts of the inferior constrictor muscles (thyropharyngeus and cricopharyngeus). Called Killian’s dehiscence. Thyropharyngeus pushes food forwards towards stomach (propulsive) but cricopharyngeus acts like a sphicter (constricts normally but then relaxes). If cricopharyngeus fails to relax, a posterior mucosal herniation may occur via Killian’s dehiscence known as Zeneker’s diverticulum or pharyngeal pouch.
Muscles of the oesophagus
Nervous supply
Lining mucosa
Musculo-tendenous tube connecting pharynx to the stomach
Outer longitudinal muscle with an inner circular coat. Upper 1/3 of the oesophagus is striated
Middle 1/3 is mixed
Lower 1/3 is smooth muscle
Motor and sensory from Vagus nerve
Nerve plexi between outer longitudunal and inner circular muscle planes
Lining mucosa= stratified squamous non keratinising