Gastralgia - what is it? The answer to this question is not known to all patients. Although most of them have experienced this phenomenon more than once.
general information
Gastralgia - what is this disease? This medical term refers to pelvic and abdominal pain.
Gastralgia in Latin sounds like gastralgia . This word consists of two syllables, which literally translate as “stomach” ( gaster ) and “pain” ( algos ).
Such an unpleasant feeling may be associated with a possible or actual damage to the internal tissues.
Causes of pain
Gastralgia - what is this pain in the stomach? Such feelings very often arise due to the excitation of receptors of damaged tissues. In medical practice, it is customary to distinguish 2 groups of receptors:
- Painful somatic mechanoreceptors, or the so-called nociceptors. Experts say that they have a high threshold of sensitivity. Stimulation of such recipes causes a rather unpleasant sensation in the stomach.
- Multimodal visceral receptors. With their slight irritation, they transmit information about the state of the organs. And only with strong such receptors cause noticeable discomfort.
Thus, there are 3 types of abdominal pain: somatic, visceral and reflected.
Somatic pain
How is such gastralgia manifested? Symptoms of somatic pain are particularly intense. In this case, the patient can quite clearly determine its location.
As you know, almost the entire parietal peritoneum, as well as the mesentery, is equipped with somatic receptors. In addition, they are present in the ureters and bile ducts.
Visceral pain
Such unpleasant sensations occur in the most affected organ. Usually they are painful in nature and are accompanied by increased sweating.
How else is visceral gastralgia manifested? Dyspepsia in the form of nausea and vomiting - these are characteristic signs of this condition. Also, the patient may sharply pale skin.
The considered type of pain can be localized in the epigastrium, above the pubic symphysis and in the umbilical region.
Reflected pain
Such discomfort is pronounced. Usually it is observed with intense irritation of the affected organ. Reflected pain can occur with diseases of the meninges, the brain, and many internal organs.
Why does pain appear?
Now you know what the term "gastralgia" means. What is it, we told above.
Specialists distinguish 2 main reasons for which there are abdominal pains:
- bloating of the abdominal cavity;
- irritability of the peritoneum.
The first (for example, bloating of the bile ducts, small and large intestines, ureters, bladder, uterus, fallopian tubes) often leads to spastic and intermittent pain. It is localized blurry and is usually noted by patients on the midline of the abdomen.
Swelling of the digestive tract (anterior part) is observed in the epigastric region.
As for irritation of the parietal peritoneum, it usually occurs as a result of its stretching or movement, which subsequently leads to acute pain.
Pain course
Abdominal pain happens:
The first occurs due to acute surgical pathology, infectious disease or injury. As a rule, its time frame is limited to three months. Longer unpleasant sensations are called chronic.
In the event that the pain is repeated at least three times within three months, then it is referred to as recurring. In most cases, it is caused by chronic diseases of the digestive tract, as well as their functional disorders.
Gastralgia: what diseases is it associated with?
The group of diseases that are manifested by acute abdominal pain includes the following:
- acute inflammatory diseases of the abdominal cavity (for example, appendicitis, Meckel’s diverticulitis, cholecystitis, pancreatitis, peritonitis);
- gastrointestinal obstruction (for example, infringement of a hernia, intestinal obstruction);
- perforation of hollow organs, including diverticula, tumors and ulcers of the digestive tract;
- hemorrhages in the abdominal cavity and lumen of the hollow organs (for example, with rupture of the spleen, abdominal aorta, liver, ovary);
- circulatory disorders in the abdominal cavity.
As for recurrent abdominal pain, they can occur:
- with intestinal colic;
- incomplete intestinal obstruction;
- stenosis of the celiac trunk ;
- intestinal infection;
- Payr's syndrome ;
- food allergies;
- gastrointestinal anomalies (hernias, cysts, stenoses and others);
- kidney disease;
- gastroesophageal reflux disease;
- parasitic disease;
- gynecological pathology;
- IBS.
Gastralgia: treatment
Success in the treatment of all these diseases, which are manifested by unpleasant sensations in the abdomen, depends entirely on the correctness, as well as the timeliness of the diagnosis.
For pain in the epigastrium, you should immediately contact a narrow specialist - a gastroenterologist. After a personal examination, the doctor is obliged to refer the patient for general laboratory tests of urine and blood. Also, to make the correct diagnosis, the patient should undergo an ultrasound of the abdominal cavity and fibrogastroduodenoscopy.
Only a full examination of the patient will allow the doctor to diagnose an existing disease. Most often, conservative methods are used to treat gastralgia. The patient is prescribed a number of drugs that contribute not only to the treatment of the disease, but also instantly eliminate all the unpleasant sensations in the abdomen.