In medical practice, there are many different terms and concepts. A person simply cannot know them all. In this article I want to talk about what melena is in medicine.
Definition of a concept
You need to begin to understand the problem by defining the basic concepts. After all, this is the only way to decide what will be discussed in the provided article. So, melena - this is the so-called tarry black stool in medicine . These are unformed bowel movements with a very offensive odor.
Why black?
Having understood that melena is a special stool in medicine, a few words should be said about why it can get such a color. So, basically, this color of bowel movements acquires in the case of stomach bleeding or after a person swallows blood (for example, with nosebleeds). Black stools become due to sulfur dioxide, which occurs after the interaction of hydrogen sulfide and hemoglobin.
When else can melena appear? The reasons for this may be taking certain medications. For example, it can be activated charcoal, a Bismuth agent, or iron preparations. In this case, the feces becomes black, but does not have a lacquer shine.
Reason 1. Ingested Blood
Having understood that melena is a tarry stool in medicine, it is also worthwhile to tell in more detail about the causes of its occurrence. So, the patient can simply swallow his blood. This happens in the following cases:
- Hemoptysis.
- Nose bleed.
Reason 2. Internal
So, various diseases of the internal organs can lead to this problem. This may be gastric bleeding, which often occurs as a result of stomach cancer, acute erosion, peptic ulcer, Mallory-Weiss syndrome, less commonly, vascular anomalies. Esophageal bleeding can also be the cause. In such cases, they talk about diseases such as cancer of the esophagus, reflux esophagitis, varicose veins of the esophagus. In addition, there are also bleeding from the duodenum and small intestine. These can be diseases such as peptic ulcers, fistulas, hemophilia.
Reason 3. Coagulation Disorders
If a person has a bleeding disorder, he may also have a problem such as melena. In this case, doctors most often talk about thrombocytopenia, hemophilia, or various liver lesions.
Reason 4. Medication
In addition to the fact that black tarry stools can occur due to the intake of certain medications described above, the following drugs can also become a cause:
- Medication "Aspirin".
- Hormonal drugs.
- Anticoagulants.
- Anti-inflammatory drugs (non-steroidal).
Other reasons
Having understood what melena is (this is called black stool in medicine), it is also worth saying that the following conditions may be the cause of this problem:
- Drinking large quantities of red wine.
- Uremia, i.e. a disease when a person is poisoned by protein metabolism products.
- The cause can be various problems with connective tissue.
Patient examination
The main method for determining a problem such as melena is to examine the patient's bowel movements. If there are none, but the patient claims that the stool is tarry, a rectal examination can be performed. In this case, feces will be collected from the walls of the rectum and then examined. In addition, if a person has melena, symptoms that may also occur are:
- Pallor of the skin.
- Fainting.
- Decreased hemoglobin in the blood.
- Collapse, i.e., sudden cardiovascular failure.
- A special color of the mucous membranes.
- Pulse reduction.
All these symptoms can be with a problem such as melena, because the main reason for its occurrence is all kinds of internal bleeding, which causes similar symptoms.
Melena in newborns
This problem can occur not only in adults, but even in newborn babies. In this case, experts distinguish between true and false melena.
- True It can occur if the baby has a blood clotting disorder. At the same time, the child will also bleed the umbilical wound, there may be bloody vomiting, hemorrhages in the eyes and on the skin.
- False . It occurs if the baby swallows the mother’s blood while passing through the birth canal. It can also occur as a result of breastfeeding if the nursing mother has bleeding cracks on her nipples. In addition, the baby can also swallow its own blood in case, for example, nosebleeds or damage to the mucous membrane.
It is also worth mentioning that you should not confuse melena with meconium, the first feces of a newborn, which also has a dark color and a similar consistency.
Melena in older children
A tarry stool can also occur in older children. In this case, it is customary to say that the child has a certain internal bleeding. The most common cause is Meckel ’s bleeding diverticulum (a congenital mass, protrusion of the ileum wall). If we talk about children, then their bleeding is most often massive, which leads to a sharp onset of anemia. However, black tarry stools often occur in children after nose injuries during the game. In this case, the child simply swallows his blood, which leads to this problem.
Getting rid of the problem
If a person has melena, treatment should be carried out only under the supervision of specialists. Self-medication in this case can be very dangerous not only for health, but also for the life of the patient (after all, such stools mainly arise due to various internal bleeding). If a similar problem is detected, you should immediately call an ambulance. After this, the doctors will most likely send the patient to a surgical hospital. Certain emergency endoscopic examinations will already be carried out there:
- Colonoscopy
- Esophagogastroduodenoscopy.
As a result of research, the source of bleeding will be determined. Then all the forces will be thrown to stop this bleeding. However, before arrival, the ambulance must remember that food is strictly prohibited at this time. If you are thirsty, you can only drink cold water in small sips. It’s also good to put an ice bubble on your stomach.