What causes intestinal distension?
What causes intestinal distension?
Functional reasons for a distended abdomen tend to involve digestive problems that cause gas and/or digestive contents to accumulate. Causes might include: Gas from functional indigestion, food intolerances or irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Constipation causing a build-up of feces and back-up of digestive contents.
How is gastric distension treated?
Given the broad range of possible causes associated with bloating and distension, identifying the most effective treatment for each individual with symptoms can be a complex process. Therapeutic options include dietary changes, probiotics, antibiotics, prokinetic agents, antispasmodics, neuromodulators and biofeedback.
What are the clinical features of visceral pain?
Clinical features of visceral pain. Visceral pain usually has a temporal evolution and clinical features vary in different phases of pathology. ‘True visceral pain’ arises as a diffuse and poorly defined sensation usually perceived in the midline of the body, at the lower sternum or upper abdomen.
What is the relationship between bowel obstruction and gas distension?
However, several recent studies have used imaging to determine that gaseous distension such as from bowel obstruction or pseudo-obstruction occurs infrequently relative to most of the distension which actually is not due to increased gas.
Why does rectal distension cause pain?
In such cases, the nerve pathways in the gastrointestinal tract become sensitized to stimulation, resulting in over-reactivity and resulting in pain amplification. In individuals who do not have IBS, rectal distension triggers a response in parts of the brain that are associated with modulating pain.
Why does irritable bowel syndrome cause visceral hypersensitivity?
It appears likely that the visceral hypersensitivity seen in some IBS patients as a result of changes in nervous system functioning on both the level of the intestines and the brain. 7 In such cases, the nerve pathways in the gastrointestinal tract become sensitized to stimulation, resulting in over-reactivity and resulting in pain amplification.
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