Patient Presentation: Malabsorption Flashcards
What processes need to occur for proper absorption to be achieved?
- Mechanical breakdown
- chewing
- gastric churning
- intestinal mixing
- Enzymatic breakdown
- salivary
- gastric
- pancreatic
- biliary
- Absorption
- Transported in teh Portal Circulation
What absorptive avenue by-passes the portal circulation?
sublingual
What are the normal functions of the following components of the GI tract with relation to digestion?
mouth
stomach
duodenum
jejunum
ileum
colon
- mouth
- salivary amylase
- stomach
- intrinsic factor
- HCl
- Pepsinogin
- Chymosin
- duodenum
- Pancreatic enzymes released
- biliary Salts released
- jejunum
- primary site of absorption of nutrients
- folate, iron, calcium (FIC)
- ileum
- B12 absorption
- ADEK
- Bile salt absorption
- B12 absorption
- colon
How is fat digested and absorbed?
- fat globule will be bound to the bile salts
- creates emulsion
- placed in micelles cross epithelial cell wall
- enter into the lympatics
How are carbohydrates digested and absorbed?
- glucose polymers that use amylase in salivary gland
- broken down into dissacharides and monosaccharides
- transported across gastric mucosa
- enter blood stream
What is the major enzyme involved in protein digestion adn absorption?
trypsin
If malabsorption occurs affecting either the mechanical breakdown or enzymatic reakdown, what phase is this?
Absorption?
Transportion into the Portal Circulation?
- Mechanical breakdown & Enzymatic Breakdown
- Luminal Phase
- can’t get nutrients out of the lumen
- Absorption
- mucosal phase
- problem w/ mucosa & your not able to transport into portal veinous system
- Transported in the portal circulation
- Transport Phase
- in the liver, or passes through the liver and systemic
10 signs and symptoms of Chronic Diarrhea?
- Abdominal pain
- cramping
- diarrhea
- foul smelling stool
- Bulk Stools
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Weakness
- Fatgue
- Pale Colored Stools
If malabsortion is suspected, what are some tests you would immediately run?
If there are no other clues, what is the next step?
If you notice bacterial overgrowth?
If you notice pancreatic disease?
If you notice mucosal disease?
- History, Physical Examination
- Laboratory Tests
- Electrolyte panel
- B12, Folate
- No other clues
- Quantitative fecal fat
- Bacterial overgrowth
- Hydrogen, C-xylose breath test
- Empiric therapy
- Pancreatic disease
- Stool, serum pancreatic enzymes
- response to Enzyme supplementation
- Ultrasonography +/- CT scan +/- ERCP
- Mucosal disease
- duodenal biopsy
- Upper GI barium series
- Stool, serum pancreatic enzymes
If the Quantitative fecal fat test is normal, what is the next step?
Abnormal?
- Normal
- evaluate for chronic diarrhea
- Abnormal
- D-Xylose test
- normal
- pancreatic disease
- abnormal
- mucosal disease
- normal
- D-Xylose test
What are teh 10 most common malabsorption diagnoses?
- Celiac Sprue
- Tropical Sprue
- Whipple’s Disease
- Eosinophilic Gastroenteritis
- Short Bowel Syndrome
- Systemic Mastocystosis
- Radiation Enteritis
- Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth
- Intestinal Lymphangiectasia
- pancreatic Insufficiency
What causes Celiac Disease?
Most common presentation?
rare, late complication?
What are the four diagnostic factors of Celiac?
- immune-mediated process secondary to gluten
- associated with other autoimmne issues
- associatd with HLA-B8
- most common presentation
- iron deficiency anemia (loss of brush border, not absorbing)
- Late complication
- primary intestinal lymphoma (b/c chronic inflammation)
- Treatment
- Gluten-free diet (very strict)
What are the Four Diagnostic Factors of Celiac Disease?
- Diagnostic Factors
- Evidence of malabsorption
- Abnormal Small Bowel Biopsy
- Usually (not necessarily) a positive antiendomysial antibodt or tissue transglutaminase antibody test
- (IgA) TTG
- Response to a gluten-free diet (clinical, chemical and histological)
Where is Tropical Sprue most common?
It is characteristic of malabsorption of which nutrients?
What type of disease it it?
How is it treated?
Diagnostic for the disease?
- endemic in equatorial areas
- malabsorption
- folic acid
- vitamin B12
- likely infectious etiology
- Treatment
- tetracycline or TMP/SMX for 3-6 months (alter microbiome)
- folic acid replacement
- Diagnostic
- unexpected, significant, positive response to folate
- ie. if they were anemic & with folate they start to improve