Medical students take you to understand acute gastroenteritis

Acute gastroenteritis is a common disease, mainly manifested as upper abdominal pain, discomfort, decreased appetite, nausea, vomiting, and sometimes accompanied by diarrhea. Severe acute gastritis can also cause symptoms such as hematemesis and bloody stools. Acute gastroenteritis is caused by the ingestion of food containing pathogenic bacteria and their toxins or improper diet, such as excessive intake of irritating and indigestible foods, leading to acute inflammatory changes in the gastrointestinal mucosa. In China, it has a higher incidence in the summer and autumn seasons, with no gender difference, and a general incubation period of 12 to 36 hours.

Acute gastroenteritis often occurs due to overeating or consuming contaminated food, or taking stimulating medications in daily life, leading to symptoms within a few hours to 24 hours. There are often cases of collective outbreaks or family occurrences, such as consuming contaminated poultry, livestock meat, fish, or seafood products with salt-loving bacteria growth, and consuming leftover dishes and rice contaminated with Staphylococcus aureus.

Acute enterogastritis is also an acute inflammation of the gastrointestinal mucosa, with clinical manifestations mainly including nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, and fever. Acute enterogastritis is common in the summer and autumn seasons, and its occurrence is often due to improper diet, overeating, or consuming raw, spoiled, and unclean food. Traditional Chinese medicine classifies gastritis into different types based on the etiology and constitution, such as damp-heat, cold-dampness, and stagnation.

1. Causes of Acute Gastroenteritis Salmonella species are the main pathogens causing acute gastroenteritis, including Salmonella typhi, Salmonella enteritidis, Vibrio cholerae, chicken Salmonella, and duck Salmonella. Eating raw or undercooked food, or certain drugs such as salicylates, sulfonamides, certain antibiotics, etc., or accidental ingestion of strong acids, alkalis, and pesticides can also cause acute gastroenteritis.Other causes of acute gastroenteritis include:
   1. Physical factors: Eating too cold or too hot and rough food can cause damage to the gastric mucosa.
   2. Chemical factors: Drugs (including aspirin, hormones, cortisone, certain antibiotics, etc.), strong alcohol, strong tea, coffee, spices, etc., can irritate the gastric mucosa and cause erosion and pinpoint bleeding.
   3. Microbial infection and bacterial toxin contamination: Foodborne pathogens include Salmonella and Staphylococcus aureus toxins, as well as infections with influenza viruses and enteric viruses. These factors can cause acute gastritis similar to bacterial food poisoning.
   4. Psychological and neural factors: Psychological and neural dysfunction, various acute and severe critical conditions, and abnormal reactions (allergies) can cause acute inflammatory damage to the gastric mucosa.

   Clinical manifestations of acute gastroenteritis occur within a few hours to 24 hours after overeating or consuming contaminated food or taking stimulating medications. There are often cases of collective outbreaks or family occurrences, such as consuming contaminated poultry, livestock meat, fish, or seafood products with salt-loving bacteria growth, and consuming leftover dishes and rice contaminated with Staphylococcus aureus.

2. Complications of Acute Gastroenteritis
   1. Anal fistula: If rectal inflammation is not treated in time, it can lead to complications such as anal fistula and the risk of secondary perianal abscess.
   2. Anal canal inflammation: This is a complication of this disease, often referred to as anal canal inflammation. Prolonged untreated anal canal inflammation can also be at risk of cancer.
   3. Intestinal polyps and colorectal cancer: Rectal inflammation for more than five years can easily cause abnormal proliferation of the intestinal mucosal ulcer surface under the long-term stimulation of inflammation, leading to the formation of intestinal polyps, and polyps with a size of more than one centimeter have a high risk of cancer transformation.
   4. Intestinal stenosis: It mostly occurs in cases with extensive lesions and a duration of 5-25 years or more. The rectum is the site of occurrence, and there are generally no symptoms. When severe, it can cause intestinal obstruction. When intestinal stenosis occurs in this disease, attention should be paid to tumors, and benign and malignant differentiation should be made.
   5. Rectal bleeding: Rectal bleeding is one of the main clinical manifestations of this disease. Long-term chronic bleeding can cause iron-deficiency anemia.
   6. Idiopathic ulcerative colitis: The cause of idiopathic ulcerative colitis is unknown and is related to immune disorders. It is mainly ulcerative, involving the mucous membrane, and is more common in young and middle-aged people. Abdominal pain is often noticeable in the lower left abdomen or the entire abdomen, with obvious tenderness. There is a decrease in appetite, weight loss, and malnutrition symptoms. Endoscopic examination and biopsy can be performed for diagnosis.
   7. Intestinal tuberculosis: The onset is slow, mostly located in the lower right abdomen, with intermittent colic, increased bowel sounds, changes in bowel habits, dry and loose alternately. In mild cases, there may only be loose stools, and in severe cases, there may be mucopurulent and bloody stools. There may be nausea, vomiting, abdominal distension, and loss of appetite.