Intestinal blockage is considered a serious health problem when the bowel is blocked either due to the large or small intestine. This is also known as intestinal obstruction. When your digestive system is not functioning well, you neither can pass gas nor can have a bowel movement. This results in a swollen belly along with stomach pain.
The most common type of intestinal blockage is called faecal impaction. In this type of blockage, a hard and large poop is stuck in the digestive tract of a human body, and it is difficult to push it out in a usual way. Severe intestinal blockage causes leak and rupture of intestinal contents as well as bacteria into the abdominal cavity. And this is considered a life-threatening complication.
Symptoms of intestinal blockage
Symptoms of Intestinal blockage depend on how severe the blockage is. But it always starts with stomach pain, most commonly cramping around the belly button. A few other symptoms of intestinal blockage are the following:
- Difficulty in passing gas
- Constipation
- Vomiting or Nausea
- Lack of appetite
- A stiff and swollen stomach
- Diarrhoea
If you have constipation and face any of the symptoms mentioned above, you should contact or rush to your doctor at the earliest. Intestinal blockage is a serious health condition, and sometimes it may be life-threatening. Hence, it is essential to go to the hospital for necessary treatment.
Causes of intestinal blockage based on age
Intestinal blockage causes may differ from person to person based on age and the blockage’s location.
In the case of newborn babies, intestinal blockage is caused by a birth defect. It may be due to twisting of a loop intestine, hard mass of intestinal contents, or absence or narrowing intestine portion.
In the case of adults, the most common cause of intestinal blockage is internal scar tissue bands, resulting from earlier abdominal surgery, tumours, and may be due to intestine parts bulging through an abnormal opening.
Risk factors of intestinal blockage
The possible risk factors of intestinal blockage are:
Hernia: It is a split in the muscle wall of the stomach in a human body. Hernia causes pockets and bulges, and it usually blocks the intestine.
Abdominal Scarring: These are tissue growths that force the intestine out of place.
Tumours: Tumours can block the intestine.
Volvulus: When the intestine’s segments are twisted around itself, it may cause volvulus that creates a blockage.
Meckel diverticulum: This is a rare symptom. Very few people are born with this symptom having an extra pouch inside their intestine.
Swallowed objects: Swelling non-edible objects can cause full or part blockage.
In the case of older people, surgery, inflammation, or cancer can cause intestinal blockage. Bowel obstructions occur in the large and small intestines. But most likely, it occurs in the small intestine. The risk is higher if you have:
- Diverticulitis
- Crohn’s Disease
- Hernia
- Stomach cancer
- Colon Cancer
- Scar tissue from surgery
- Ovarian cancer
- Breast cancer, melanoma, lung cancer spread to the patient’s bowel.
- Radiation to the stomach.
Diagnosis of intestinal blockage
Various tests and procedures are conducted to diagnose intestinal blockage. These are:
- Physical exam: First of all, the doctor will ask about the medical history of the patient and related symptoms. The doctor then performs a physical exam to assess the patient’s situation. If there is a lump inside the stomach, or it is swollen, the doctor may suspect an intestinal blockage. Doctors usually listen to the bowel sounds using a stethoscope.
- X-Ray: Doctors asked the patient to do an X-Ray to confirm intestinal blockage. However, few intestinal blockages can not be seen in the standard X-Ray procedure.
- CT Scan: A CT scan is a combination of X-ray images that takes from different angles to produce the images as cross-sectional. The CT scan images are more visible and detailed to show an intestinal blockage than a standard X-ray.
- Ultrasound: Ultrasound is often preferred if an intestinal blockage occurs in children. The ultrasound report will typically show a ‘bully’s-eye’ that means one intestine coiled within the intestine.
How to rule out intestinal obstruction?
The treatment or rule of intestinal obstruction or blockage depends on the cause. Many blockages usually open up on their own with supportive care. It is better to avoid surgery as it may sometimes cause more scarring. The doctors advise the patients about the preferred diet. This diet includes liquids and foods, including yoghurt.
Until the intestinal blockage is cleared, the doctor may use the small and flexible tube to take out intestinal contents instead of surgery.
If the patient’s intestine is entirely blocked, they need surgery immediately. The doctor’s primary goal is to remove the blockage and repair the patient’s organs.
If a blockage occurs due to a hernia, doctors will suggest the hernia be repaired.
If a blockage occurs due to Crohn’s disease, doctors will advise medicines to treat the condition.
Conclusion
Internal blockage can be easily curable if proper treatment is taken at the right time. If treatment is not taken at the right time, it may turn into a serious health condition. In a situation where a patient feels difficulty passing gas, constipation, vomiting or nausea, lack of appetite, a hard and swollen stomach, or diarrhoea, they may immediately rush to the doctor to take the necessary treatment. Doctors will ask several questions, such as when abdominal pain starts, is the pain continuous, have you experienced vomiting, nausea, blood in stool or fever, etc., and later recommend necessary treatment.