Small and Large Intestines Flashcards
Meckel diverticulum
Outpouching of all three layers of the bowel wall (true diverticulum) on antimesenteric side of the small bowel (small intestine)
Meckel diverticulum - Cause
Arises due to failure of the vitelline duct to involute
Vitelline duct = embryological remnant through which fetus received nutrients from yolk sac
Meckel diverticulum - Rule of 2’s
- Seen in 2% of the population (most common congenital anomaly of the GI tract)
- 2 inches long and located in the small bowel within 2 feet of the ileocecal valve
- Can present during the first 2 years of life
Meckel diverticulum - Presentation
ASx (most cases) OR with bleeding (due to heterotopic gastric mucosa b/c it produces acid), volvulus, intussusception, or obstruction (mimics appendicitis)
Hirschsprung disease (AKA congenital aganglionic megacolon)
Defective relaxation and peristalsis of rectum and distal sigmoid colon
Hirschsprung disease - Associated w/
Down syndrome
Congenital defect of Hirschsprung disease is
Congenital failure of ganglion cells (neural crest-derived) to descend into myenteric (Auerbach) plexus (b/w IC and OL muscle of muscularis propria/externa; regulates motility) and submucosal (Meissner) plexus (b/w submucosa and IC muscle; regulates blood flow, secretions, and absorption)
MORE SPECIFICALLY = premature arrest of migration of vagal NC cells in the hindgut –> total lack of parasympathetic ganglion in these ENS plexuses
Clinical features of Hirschsprung disease
Based on obstruction due to functional loss of peristalsis:
- Failure to pass meconium
- Full rectal vault on digital rectal exam
- Massive dilatation (megacolon) of bowel proximal to obstruction with risk for rupture
- Constipation, emesis or diarrhea after newborn period
- Must be recognized before becomes fatal
Dx of Hirschsprung disease
Rectal suction biopsy reveals lack of ganglion cells
Tx of Hirschsprung disease
Resection of the involved bowel; ganglion cells are present in the bowel proximal to the diseased segment.
Genetics of Hirschsprung disease
- Incomplete penetrance and sex-linked (preferential and more penetrance for males)
- Heterozygous loss-of-function mutations in receptor tyrosine kinase RET at 10q11.2 = majority of familial cases and ~ 15% of sporadic cases
- Long segment (from IAS to proximal splenic flexure) = AD w/low penetrance
- Short segment (from IAS to distal to splenic flexure; most common form) = AR or multigenic inheritance
- Inheritance seems to be multifactorial
Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) - most common in
Premature infants
Associated w/ enteral feeding ad high perinatal mortality
NEC - Cause
No specific bacterial pathogen, but ultimately bacteria enter mucosa and cause inflammation, mucosal necrosis –> sepsis and shock –> intestinal perforation and peritonitis
Important inflammatory mediator = platelet activating factor (PAF) –> ↑ mucosal permeability by ↑ enterocyte apoptosis and compromising intercellular tight junctions
NEC - Clinical features (4)
- Onset of bloody stools, abdominal distention, and development of circulatory collapse
- X ray = gas within the intestinal wall (pneumatosis intestinalis)
- Involves terminal ileum, cecum, and right colon
- Involved segment = distended, friable, and congested, or gangrenous
NEC - microscopic features
Mucosal or transmural coagulative necrosis, ulceration, bacterial colonization, and submucosal gas bubbles
NEC - prognosis/tx
If detected early –> resection of necrotic segments of bowel; survivors have post-NEC strictures from fibrosis caused by the healing process.
Hernias - Definition
Weakness/defect in wall of the peritoneal cavity –> protrusion of a serosa-lined pouch of peritoneum (hernia sac)
Acquired hernias
Most commonly occur anteriorly, via the inguinal and femoral canals or umbilicus, or at sites of surgical scars
Concerns w/hernias
Visceral protrusion (external herniation) a problem b/c bowel loops/omentum may protrude and can become entrapped –> impaired venous drainage –> stasis and edema –> permanent entrapment (incarceration) –> arterial and venous compromise (strangulation) –> infarction
Adhesions - Definition
Inflammation of some kind (e.g. infection, peritonitis, surgery) or congenital (rare) –> development of adhesions (fibrous bridges) b/w bowel segments, abdominal wall, and operative sites
Adhesions - Problems
Can cause closed loops through which other viscera may slide and become entrapped (internal herniation) –> obstruction and strangulation (like in external hernias)
Volvulus - Definition
Twisting of bowel along its mesentery –> most commonly in sigmoid colon (elderly) and cecum (young adults)
Volvulus - Problems
Results in obstruction and disruption of the blood supply with infarction
Intussusception - Definition
Telescoping of proximal segment of bowel forward into distal segment
Intussusception - Problems
Telescoped segment is pulled forward by peristalsis, resulting in obstruction and disruption of blood supply with infarction –> gives current jelly stools
Intussusception - Associated w/
A leading edge (focus of traction)
In adults, the most common cause is tumor.
Ischemic Bowel Disease (IsBD) - locations
Can occur at any level of gut, but small bowel is highly susceptible to ischemic injury.
IsBD - Transmural vs. Mucosal infarction
- Transmural infarction occurs with thrombosis/embolism of the superior
mesenteric artery or thrombosis of the mesenteric vein. - Mucosal infarction occurs with marked hypotension/hypoperfusion (e.g. shock)
IsBD - Intestinal responses to ischemia (2 phases)
- Initial hypoxic injury
- Reperfusion injury (greatest damage) –> ROS, neutrophil infiltration, complement proteins + TNF –> can trigger multiorgan failure
How anatomy contributes to IsBD
Intestinal segments at the end of their respective arterial supplies are particularly susceptible to ischemia
- E.g. splenic flexure (where the superior and inferior mesenteric arterial circulations terminate) –> watershed area of SMAJ due to atherosclerosis (most common cause)
- E.g. sigmoid colon and rectum (where inferior mesenteric, pudendal, and iliac arterial circulations end)
Why the epithelium more vulnerable to ischemic injury?
Intestinal capillaries run in glands (from crypt to surface before making a hairpin turn at the surface to empty into the post-capillary venules) so this means that crypts are protected (which contain epithelial stem cells) and receive oxygenated blood while the epithelium is vulnerable to ischemic injury
IsBD - Clinical features
Older w/coexisting cardiac or vascular disease
Acute = sudden, severe abdominal pain and tenderness, w/sometimes N/V, bloody diarrhea and melena
Prolonged = absence of bowel sounds and boardlike rigidity of abdominal wall b/c muscular spasm
IsBD is missed/delayed b/c
Sx overlap w/acute appendicitis, perforated ulcer, and acute cholecystitis
Chronic IsBD looks like IBD w/episodes of bloody diarrhea interspersed w/periods of healing
IBD has high/low morality
High b/c these infarctions can become more extensive if vascular supply not restored via correction or collateral blood
Angiodysplasia - definition
Malformed submucosal and mucosal blood vessels in cecum or R colon
Angiodysplasia - Clinical features
Rupture classically presents as hematochezia in an older adult (60’s)
Pathogenesis uncertain, may be due to vascular changes due to age + cecum has largest diameter and highest wall tension)
Occurs in <1% of adult pop/n, but causes 20% of major lower GI bleeds
Hemorrhoids (aka anal varices) - Development
Develop 2nd to persistently elevated venous pressure w/in the hemorrhoidal plexus
Hemorrhoids - Predisposing factors
Straining at stool b/c constipation and venous stasis of pregnancy
Can develope b/c of portal HTN
Hemorrhoids - Pathogenesis
Like esophageal varices, but less serious
Anal and perianal venous plexuses dilate and form collaterals that connect portal and caval venous systems –> less venous HTN.
Hemorrhoids - Clinical features
- Present w/ pain and rectal bleeding (bright red blood on TP)
- Not an emergency
- Rare for under 30
- 5% of pop/n
Hemorrhoids - Tx
Sclerotherapy, rubber band ligation, infrared coagulation, or hemorrhoidectomy.
Hemorrhoids - Morphology
- External hemorrhoids = collateral vessels w/in inferior hemorrhoidal plexus are located below the anorectal line
- Internal hemorrhoids = dilation of superior hemorrhoidal plexus w/in distal rectum
- Histologically = thin-walled, dilated, submucosal vessels that protrude beneath the anal or rectal mucosa (and thus can become inflamed/thrombosed/recanalized)