A Simple Guide to Small Intestines Disorders, Diagnosis, Treatment and Related Conditions

This book describes Small Intestines Disorders, Diagnosis and Treatment and Related Diseases

The small intestine is an essential organ of digestion located between the duodenum (first part of the small intestine) and cecum (the first part of the colon.

It is an important organ because it is necessary for helping to digest the food consumed in the body.

The small intestine breaks down the food and absorbs from it the necessary vitamins and fats.

The small intestine is a long, coiled tube about 20 feet (6 meters) long that can be divided into three sections:

1. Duodenum, the first part of the small intestine that connects to the stomach
2. Jejunum, the middle portion of the small intestine
3. Ileum, the last portion of the small intestine that attaches to the colon

The main function of the small intestine is the absorption of the food eaten.

During and after a meal, the small intestine normally demonstrates very irregular or unsynchronized contractions.

The contractions shift the food content back and forth and combine it with the digestive enzymes that are secreted into the intestine.

These contractions are not totally unsynchronized.

They shift the contents of the small intestine gradually towards the large intestine.

It normally takes about 90-120 minutes for the first part of a meal eaten to reach the large intestine, and the last portion of the meal may not reach the large intestine for five hours.

This pattern of intestinal motility is called the "fed (or eating) pattern."

Between meals, the small intestine shows cycles of activity that repeat about every 90-120 minutes.

The cycle comprises:

1. A short period of no contractions (Phase I)
2. A long period of unsynchronized contractions that appears similar to the fed pattern (Phase II)
3. A burst of strong, regular contractions that move down the intestine in a peristaltic fashion (Phase III).

Phase III represents a continuation of the "housekeeper waves" that start in the stomach.

Its function is to force the undigested food material and bacteria out of the small intestine and into the large intestine.

There are 2 other types of motility seen in the small intestine but their function is not well known.

1. Discrete clustered contractions are brief bursts of contractions (each burst lasts only a few seconds) which are synchronized (peristaltic).

They happen mainly in the upper small intestine and disappear before moving too far down-stream.

They happen in most people at infrequent periods but in patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) they can be linked with abdominal pain.

2. The second type of contraction is the giant migrating contraction.

This happens primarily in the lower small intestine (ileum), and it is peristaltic over long distances.

It may be part of a defensive reflex that forces bacteria and food debris out of the intestine.

These giant migrating contractions happen in healthy people and normally cause no sensation, but in some patients, such as those with IBS, they are linked with reports of abdominal pain.

Like any other organ of the body, different diseases can involve the small intestine.

This may cause disturbances in its action and symptoms such as:

1. Pain,
2. Bloating,
3. Indigestion,
4. Excessive belching and
5. Changes in appetite.

Small intestine disorders are disorders that involve the small intestine, either on its own or together with other parts of the digestive tract and organs.

To diagnose a small intestine disorder, the doctor may have to do certain tests, scans or endoscopes.

The treatment differs depending on the underlying cause

TABLE OF CONTENT
Introduction
Chapter 1 Small Intestines Disorders<

Dettagli