Enterocolitis
| Enterocolitis | |
|---|---|
| Other names:Coloenteritis | |
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Enterocolitis is an inflammation of the digestive tract, involvingenteritis of the small intestine andcolitis of the colon.[1] It may be caused by variousinfections, with bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites, or other causes. Common clinical manifestations of enterocolitis are frequent diarrheal defecations, with or withoutnausea, vomiting, abdominal pain,fever, chills, and alteration of general condition. General manifestations are given by the dissemination of the infectious agent or its toxins throughout the body, or – most frequently – by significant losses of water and minerals, the consequence ofdiarrhea and vomiting.
Signs and symptoms
Symptoms of enterocolitis include abdominal pain, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, fever, and loss of appetite.
Cause
Among the causal agents of acute enterocolitis are:[citation needed]
- bacteria:Salmonella,Shigella,Escherichia coli (E. coli),Campylobacter etc.
- viruses:enteroviruses,rotaviruses,norovirus,adenoviruses
- fungi:candidiasis, especially in immunosuppressed patients or who have previously received prolonged antibiotic treatment
- parasites:Giardia lamblia (with a high frequency of infestation in the population, but not always with clinical manifestations),Balantidium coli,Blastocystis homnis,Cryptosporidium (diarrhea in people with immunosuppression),Entamoeba histolytica (produces amebiandysentery, common in tropical areas).
Diagnosis
Types
Specific types of enterocolitis include:[3][4]
- Necrotizing enterocolitis (most common in premature infants)
- Pseudomembranous enterocolitis (also called "Pseudomembranous colitis")
Treatment
Treatment depends on aetiology e.g. Antibiotics such as metronidazole for bacterial infection, antiviral drug therapy for viral infection andanti-helminths for parasitic infections[citation needed]
See also
References
- ↑McFarland, Joseph (1904).A Text-book of Pathology: For Practitioners and Students. W.B. Saunders. p. 466. Retrieved7 March 2018.
- ↑Ginglen, Jacob G.; Butki, Nikolai (2025). "Necrotizing Enterocolitis".StatPearls. StatPearls Publishing. Retrieved21 January 2025.
- ↑"Necrotizing Enterocolitis".The Lecturio Medical Concept Library.Archived from the original on 11 August 2021. Retrieved11 August 2021.
- ↑Taxonomy. Lawson et al (2016). NCBI.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/Browser/wwwtax.cgi?mode=Info&id=1496&lvl=3&lin=f&keep=1&srchmode=1&unlockArchived 2020-11-11 at theWayback Machine
External links
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