Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a type of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). It is a long-term condition that results in inflammation and ulcers of the colon and rectum. The primary symptoms of active disease are abdominal pain and diarrhea mixed with blood (hematochezia). Weight loss, fever, and anemia may also occur. Often, symptoms come on slowly and can range from mild to severe. Symptoms typically occur intermittently with periods of no symptoms between flares. Complications may include abnormal dilation of the colon (megacolon), inflammation of the eye, joints, or liver, and colon cancer.
The gastrointestinal tract is the tract or passageway of the digestive system that leads from the mouth to the anus. The GI tract contains all the major organs of the digestive system, in humans and other animals, including the esophagus, stomach, and intestines. Food taken in through the mouth is digested to extract nutrients and absorb energy, and the waste expelled at the anus as faeces. Gastrointestinal is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the stomach and intestines.
Constipation is a bowel dysfunction that makes bowel movements infrequent or hard to pass. The stool is often hard and dry. Other symptoms may include abdominal pain, bloating, and feeling as if one has not completely passed the bowel movement. Complications from constipation may include hemorrhoids, anal fissure or fecal impaction. The normal frequency of bowel movements in adults is between three per day and three per week. Babies often have three to four bowel movements per day while young children typically have two to three per day.
Hirschsprung's disease is a birth defect in which nerves are missing from parts of the intestine. The most prominent symptom is constipation. Other symptoms may include vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea and slow growth. Most children develop signs and symptoms shortly after birth. However, others may be diagnosed later in infancy or early childhood. About half of all children with Hirschsprung's disease are diagnosed in the first year of life. Complications may include enterocolitis, megacolon, bowel obstruction and intestinal perforation.
Abdominal pain, also known as a stomach ache, Is a symptom associated with both non-serious and serious medical issues. Since the abdomen contains most of the body's vital organs, it can be an indicator of a wide variety of diseases. Given that, approaching the examination of a person and planning of a differential diagnosis is extremely important.
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a group of inflammatory conditions of the colon and small intestine, with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis (UC) being the principal types. Crohn's disease affects the small intestine and large intestine, as well as the mouth, esophagus, stomach and the anus, whereas ulcerative colitis primarily affects the colon and the rectum.
The myenteric plexus provides motor innervation to both layers of the muscular layer of the gut, having both parasympathetic and sympathetic input, whereas the submucous plexus provides secretomotor innervation to the mucosa nearest the lumen of the gut.
Colitis is swelling or inflammation of the large intestine (colon). Colitis may be acute and self-limited or long-term. It broadly fits into the category of digestive diseases.
Toxic megacolon is an acute form of colonic distension. It is characterized by a very dilated colon (megacolon), accompanied by abdominal distension (bloating), and sometimes fever, abdominal pain, or shock.
A fecal impaction or an impacted bowel is a solid, immobile bulk of feces that can develop in the rectum as a result of chronic constipation. Fecal impaction is a common result of neurogenic bowel dysfunction and causes immense discomfort and pain. Its treatment includes laxatives, enemas, and pulsed irrigation evacuation (PIE) as well as digital removal. It is not a condition that resolves without direct treatment.
Proctitis is an inflammation of the anus and the lining of the rectum, affecting only the last 6 inches of the rectum.
Blood in stool or rectal bleeding looks different depending on how early it enters the digestive tract—and thus how much digestive action it has been exposed to—and how much there is. The term can refer either to melena, with a black appearance, typically originating from upper gastrointestinal bleeding; or to hematochezia, with a red color, typically originating from lower gastrointestinal bleeding. Evaluation of the blood found in stool depends on its characteristics, in terms of color, quantity and other features, which can point to its source, however, more serious conditions can present with a mixed picture, or with the form of bleeding that is found in another section of the tract. The term "blood in stool" is usually only used to describe visible blood, and not fecal occult blood, which is found only after physical examination and chemical laboratory testing.
Pouchitis is an umbrella term for inflammation of the ileal pouch, an artificial rectum surgically created out of ileum in patients who have undergone a proctocolectomy or total colectomy. The ileal pouch-anal anastomosis is created in the management of patients with ulcerative colitis, indeterminate colitis, familial adenomatous polyposis, cancer, or rarely, other colitides.
Collagenous colitis is an inflammatory condition of the colon. Together with the related condition lymphocytic colitis, it is a subtype of microscopic colitis, which is characterized by inflammation that specifically affects the colon, and a clinical presentation that involves watery diarrhea but a lack of rectal bleeding. Microscopic colitis does not usually cause macroscopic changes to the colon that allow a visual diagnosis during colonoscopy, instead causing microscopic changes that can be detected through histopathological examination of colonic biopsies. The nature of these microscopic changes is what differentiates collagenous from lymphocytic colitis, with the characteristic finding in collagenous colitis being depositions of collagen in the connective tissue between the colonic glands. Collagenous colitis, and microscopic colitis as a whole, is sometimes considered to be an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) along with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. However, little is known about the etiology of microscopic colitis, and so the degree of similarity to the inflammatory bowel diseases is uncertain.
Intestinal pseudo-obstruction (IPO) is a clinical syndrome caused by severe impairment in the ability of the intestines to push food through. It is characterized by the signs and symptoms of intestinal obstruction without any lesion in the intestinal lumen. Clinical features mimic those seen with mechanical intestinal obstructions and can include abdominal pain, nausea, abdominal distension, vomiting, dysphagia and constipation depending upon the part of the gastrointestinal tract involved.
Ischemic colitis is a medical condition in which inflammation and injury of the large intestine result from inadequate blood supply. Although uncommon in the general population, ischemic colitis occurs with greater frequency in the elderly, and is the most common form of bowel ischemia. Causes of the reduced blood flow can include changes in the systemic circulation or local factors such as constriction of blood vessels or a blood clot. In most cases, no specific cause can be identified.
Management of ulcerative colitis involves first treating the acute symptoms of the disease, then maintaining remission. Ulcerative colitis is a form of colitis, a disease of the intestine, specifically the large intestine or colon, that includes characteristic ulcers, or open sores, in the colon. The main symptom of active disease is usually diarrhea mixed with blood, of gradual onset which often leads to anaemia. Ulcerative colitis is, however, a systemic disease that affects many parts of the body outside the intestine.
Stercoral ulcer is an ulcer of the colon due to pressure and irritation resulting from severe, prolonged constipation due to a large bowel obstruction, damage to the autonomic nervous system, or stercoral colitis. It is most commonly located in the sigmoid colon and rectum. Prolonged constipation leads to production of fecaliths, leading to possible progression into a fecaloma. These hard lumps irritate the rectum and lead to the formation of these ulcers. It results in fresh bleeding per rectum. These ulcers may be seen on imaging, such as a CT scan but are more commonly identified using endoscopy, usually a colonoscopy. Treatment modalities can include both surgical and non-surgical techniques.
Intestinal Connective tissue abnormality may cause Intestinal Desmosis The absence of the tendinous plexus layer was first described in 1998 by Meier-Ruge. Desmosis is implicated in disturbed gut motility.
Colonic ulcer can occur at any age, in children however they are rare. Most common symptoms are abdominal pain and hematochezia.
