GI Flashcards
What is inflammatory bowel disease?
An umbrella term for Crohn’s disease and Ulcerative Colitis.
What is Crohn’s disease?
A chronic inflammatory condition affecting the GIT.
What is Ulcerative Colitis?
A chronic inflammatory condition affecting the colon and rectum.
Involves the formation of ulcers.
What are the protective factors for ulcerative colitis?
Smoking
What are the risk factors for ulcerative colitis?
- Age (under 30)
- White
- Family history
What are the risk factors for Crohn’s?
- Age (under 30)
- White
- Family history
- Smoking
- Female
What are the symptoms of ulcerative colitis?
- Bloody diarrhoea (can be with mucus)
- Abdo pain and discomfort
- Faecal urgency
- Systemic symptoms
What are the symptoms of Crohn’s?
- Diarrhoea (not bloody)
- Faecal urgency
- Abdo pain
- Systemic symptoms
What are the signs of ulcerative colitis?
Tender, distended abdomen
What are the signs of Crohn’s?
- Aphthous ulcers
- Abdo tenderness
- Right iliac fossa mass
- Perianal abscess
- Anal/rectal strictures
What investigations are done for suspected ulcerative colitis?
- Bloods (FBC, CRP, cultures)
- LFTs
- Stool tests (MCS and C Diff)
- AXR
- CXR
- CT
- Ileocolonoscopy
What are the differential diagnoses for IBD?
Other causes of diarrhoea:
- Salmonella
- Giardia intestinalis
- Rotavirus
What is the aim of treatment for ulcerative colitis?
Induce remission.
What is the treatment for mild/moderate ulcerative colitis?
- Oral 5-aminosalicylic acid (5-ASA)
- Rectal 5-ASA
- Glucocorticoid if not responsive
Give 3 examples of 5-ASAs.
- Sulfasalazine
- Mesalazine
- Olsalazine
What is the treatment for severe ulcerative colitis?
Glucocorticoid (eg. oral prednisolone)
What is the management of Crohn’s disease?
- Smoking cessation
- Anaemia (iron, B12 or folate deficiency) should be treated with replacement
How is a mild attack of Crohn’s managed?
Controlled-release corticosteroids (budesonide)
How is a moderate attack of Crohn’s managed?
Glucocorticoids (oral prednisolone)
How is a severe attack of Crohn’s managed?
- IV hydrocortisone
- Treat rectal disease
- Antibiotics
- Anti-TNF
How is remission maintained in Crohn’s?
Azathioprine (methotrexate if intolerant)
What are the complications of ulcerative colitis?
- Toxic megacolon
- Bleeding
- Malignancy
- Strictures (leading to obstruction)
- Venous thrombosis
What are the complications of Crohn’s?
- Fistulae
- Strictures
- Abscesses
- Malabsorption
What is irritable bowel syndrome?
A mixed group of abdominal symptoms with no organic cause.
What are the three types of IBS?
- IBS-C
- IBS-D
- IBS-M
What is the pathophysiology of irritable bowel syndrome?
Dysfunction in the brain-gut axis results in disorder of intestinal motility and/or enhanced visceral perception.
What are the causes of IBS?
- Depression/anxiety
- Psychological stress/trauma
- GI infection
- Sexual, physical and verbal abuse
- Eating disorders
What are the risk factors for IBS?
- Female
- Previous severe and long diarrhoea
- High hypochondriacal anxiety
When should IBS be considered?
ABC:
- Abdo pain
- Bloating
- Change in bowel habits
What is the diagnostic criteria for IBS?
- Abdo discomfort including two of:
- Relieved by defecation
- Change in stool frequency
- Change in stool formation - Accompanied by two of:
- Urgency
- Abdo bloating/distension
- Worsening symptoms after food
- Incomplete evacuation
What is the exclusion criteria for IBS?
- > 40 years old
- Bloody stool
- Anorexia
- Weight loss
- Diarrhoea at night
What investigations are ordered for suspected IBS?
- FBC
- ESR
- LFTs
- Coeliac serology
- TSH
- Colonoscopy
What is the management for IBS?
- Exclusion diets
- Bulking agents for constipation and diarrhoea
- Antispasmodics for colic/bloating
- CBT
What is Coeliac disease?
A condition in which there is inflammation of the mucosa of the upper small bowel that improves when gluten is withdrawn from the diet and relapses when gluten is reintroduced.
What is the clinical presentation of coeliac disease?
GLIAD:
- GI malabsorption
- Lymphoma and carcinoma
- Immune associations
- Anaemia
- Dermatological
What investigations are ordered in suspected coeliac disease?
- Bloods (FBC, LFTs, INR etc)
- Antibodies
- Stool tests
- Oesophago-gastro-duodenoscopy (OGD)
- Duodenal biopsy
What are the differential diagnoses for coeliac disease?
- Peptic duodenitis
- Crohn’s
- Giardiasis
- Post-gastroenteritis
- Eosinophilic enteritis
- Graft-versus-host disease
- Non-coeliac gluten insensitivity
What is the management of coeliac disease?
- Gluten-free diet
- Pneumococcal vaccine
- Dermatitis herpertiformis
What are the complications of coeliac disease?
- Malabsorption
- Malnutrition
- Lactose intolerance
- Cancer
- Pregnancy complications
What is gastro-oesophageal reflux disease? (GORD)
Acid from the stomach leaks up into the oesophagus.
What are the risk factors for GORD?
- Hiatus hernia
- Smoking
- Alcohol
- Obesity
- Pregnancy
- Drugs
- Iatrogenic
What are the signs and symptoms of GORD?
- Heartburn
- Belching
- Odonophagia
- Dysphagia
- Nocturnal asthma
- Chronic cough
- Laryngitis
What are the investigations for GORD?
PPI trial
What are the differential diagnoses for GORD?
- ACS
- Stable angina
- Functional oesophageal disorder
- Functional dyspepsia
- PUD
- Malignancy
What is the conservative management of GORD?
- Weight loss
- Raise head of bed
- Small regular meals
- Smoking cessation
- Avoid hot drinks and spicy foods
What is the medical management of GORD?
- OTC antacids
- PPI (lansoprazole)
What is the surgical management of GORD?
Nissen fundoplication.
What are the complications of GORD?
- Oesophagitis
- PUD
- Barret’s metaplasia
What is a Mallory-Wiess tear?
A tear/laceration along the right border of (or near) the gastro-oesophageal junction.
What is the pathophysiology of a Mallory-Weiss tear?
Not completely understood.
Thought to be high abdominal pressure with low intrathoracic pressure.
What are the risk factors for a Mallory-Weiss tear?
- Alcoholism
- Forceful vomiting
- Eating disorders
- Male
- NSAID use
What are the clinical features of a Mallory-Weiss tear?
- Vomiting
- Haematemesis after vomiting
- Retching
- Postural hypotension
- Dizziness
How is a Mallory-Weiss tear diagnosed?
OGDoscopy
What are the differential diagnoses for a Mallory-Weiss tear?
- Gastroenteritis
- Peptic ulcer
- Cancer
- Oesophageal varices
How are Mallory-Weiss tears managed?
- Normally self-limiting
- Supportive care
What are peptic ulcers?
AKA gastric ulcers - open sores in the lining of the stomach
How are peptic ulcers classified?
Acute and chronic.
What are the causes of acute peptic ulcers?
- Drugs (NSAIDs, steroids)
- Stress
What are the causes of chronic peptic ulcers?
- Drugs
- H. pylori
- High calcium
- Zollinger-Ellison
What is the main difference between duodenal and gastric ulcer pathophysiology?
Duodenal - too much acid
Gastric - not enough acid protection
What are the risk factors for duodenal ulcers?
- H pylori
- Drugs
- Smoking
- Alcohol
- Increased gastric emptying
- Blood group O
What are the risk factors for gastric ulcers?
- H pylori
- Smoking
- Drugs
- Delayed gastric emptying
- Stress
What is the clinical presentation of duodenal ulcers?
Epigastric pain (before meals, relieved by eating or milk).
What is the clinical presentation of gastric ulcers?
- Epigastric pain
- Worse on eating
- Relieved by antacids - Weight loss