Acute gastritis: symptoms and treatment in adults and children

2024 Author: Curtis Blomfield | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 20:44

Acute gastritis is a serious disease that primarily affects the stomach. If there is suspicion of an inflammatory process in the stomach, then the help of a specialist doctor, in this case, a gastroenterologist, will immediately be required. To be able to recognize the disease, you should definitely carefully study all the symptoms of acute gastritis of the stomach.

How does gastritis manifest itself?

It should be noted that in almost all cases of this disease, the patient himself is to blame, since he previously did not take his he alth very well. If you constantly eat wrong or eat monotonous and unhe althy food, then most likely a person will become a patient of a gastroenterologist. The second factor that can influence the manifestation of the disease is infection.

Let's take a closer look at the main symptoms of acute gastritis:

1. Abuse of alcoholic beverages in large quantities is the first companion of gastritis.
2. It also affects people who like to eat spicy, fatty or smoked. Gastritis can manifest itself very sharply,especially if a person has been on a diet for a long time, and then abruptly broke. Gastroenterologists say that most often people notice an exacerbation of gastritis after the holidays, as all food these days becomes too high in calories.
3. Gastritis can also provoke the impact on the body of harmful substances, for example, it can be detergents. This situation is more common with young children, whose bodies are more vulnerable.
4. People who work in hazardous industries also suffer from this disease.
5. There is a separate type of infection that enters the human body and causes a chronic form of the disease.
6. Sometimes the cause of the disease can be other diseases, such as HIV infection.

There are other reasons why gastritis can develop, but they are not so many.

Types of gastritis

If a person has acute gastritis, the symptoms can be very diverse, depending on this, several types of the disease are distinguished:

1. Catarrhal gastritis. This type of gastritis is considered the most common, the reasons for which it occurs are very diverse. First of all, these are violations of proper nutrition and alcohol abuse. Such gastritis can also be called superficial, as it rarely damages the deep layers of the gastric mucosa.
2. Fibrinous gastritis occurs solely as a result of a severe disease caused by an infection. It can appear even after a person inhales harmful substances and they enter the stomach. This type of gastritis is dangerousbecause it can result in a large number of ulcers.
3. Corrosive gastritis. This type of gastritis occurs due to the penetration of harmful substances into the body. These can be, for example, acids or s alts.
4. Phlegmonous gastritis is dangerous because the integrity of the gastric mucosa is violated. This happens due to injury or a tumor that has passed into the stage of decay.

In any case, if a disease is suspected, the symptoms of acute gastritis in adults or in a child will be obvious, so it is necessary to consult a qualified specialist for diagnosis and treatment.

Occurrence of gastritis

In fact, there are many reasons for the occurrence of gastritis, but the main one is malnutrition. It should be borne in mind that almost 70% of cases of gastritis occur in people who like to eat spicy or too s alty foods. Consider additional irritants that can cause illness:

1. Medication use, for example, if you constantly drink acetylsalicylic acid, the walls of the stomach can be damaged.
2. People who smoke a lot are at risk.
3. Pathologies can also occur in people who drink.
4. Although acute gastritis is not associated with an infectious disease, it can still be caused by other infectious diseases such as Salmonella, Yersinia and E. coli.
5. Frequent diagnostics involving probes and endoscopy can cause gastritis.
6. Become the causeand mechanical damage to the stomach from blows or bruises.

Oddly enough, even an allergy to certain foods can cause gastritis. Only a doctor can determine what actually provoked the disease.

Symptoms

When a person has acute gastritis, the symptoms can be very diverse. As a rule, the very first discomfort can occur in just a day:

1. You get a bad taste in your mouth.
2. Loss of appetite.
3. There is heaviness in the stomach.
4. May be a burp of air.
5. vomit opens.
6. vomit is profuse and foul-smelling.

If acute gastritis began to appear after poisoning, then there may be diarrhea, bloating or rumbling in it. When the temperature rises, then hospitalization is no longer enough. It should be noted that acute gastritis, the symptoms of which develop very quickly, is dangerous for any person, especially if it is a child. Recently, doctors are faced with the fact that this disease can be fatal, so without urgent surgical intervention, a person can simply lose his life. It should be taken especially seriously if gastritis occurs in a pregnant woman or a small child - in this case, the development of the disease is unpredictable.

What can be confused with acute gastritis?

At the first signs of acute gastritis of the stomach, the symptoms of which can be easily confused with other diseases,It is recommended that an accurate diagnosis be made as soon as possible. For example, if a person suffers from hypertension or has angina pectoris, then the symptoms will coincide with gastritis and only an ECG will rule out the disease. As for vomiting, other inflammatory diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, such as pancreatitis or even appendicitis, can also cause it. A huge number of other diseases with the same symptoms cannot be ruled out.

Gastritis during pregnancy

Pregnant women often experience acute gastritis, the symptoms of which can be caused by toxicosis. Young mothers should not worry that this will somehow affect the condition of the child, but they will have to fight the inflammatory process in the body. Many doctors recommend that expectant mothers immediately prepare for the need for ongoing prevention as measures to prevent this unpleasant disease, and for this you should follow a few simple conditions:

1. Eat right.
2. Enough rest and not overwork.
3. Spend more time outdoors.
4. Exercise regularly.
5. Control your emotional state.
6. Give up bad habits.
7. At the first symptoms, seek medical attention immediately.

In no case should you self-medicate and use only folk remedies, only doctors should treat the disease.

Gastritis in children

Strange as it may seem, acute gastritis also occurs in children. Symptoms may appear as early asearly childhood, so parents should be as attentive as possible to the he alth of their baby. Seizures often begin to show up as early as the age of five. If a child has frequent diarrhea or vomiting, the body becomes dehydrated quickly, increasing the risk of kidney failure.

Almost half of children develop gastritis when they attend school. There can be many reasons for this, for example, a child consumes more dry food, including crackers and chips, may not follow their hygiene, bite their nails or lick their fingers, increasing the risk of various infections that provoke gastritis. In this case, you should immediately consult a doctor if there is even the slightest suspicion that the baby has acute gastritis.

Treatment in children and symptoms are slightly different from the signs and treatment of this disease in an adult. For each child, the scheme is selected individually. In some cases, gastric lavage, mandatory bed rest, and diet may be required.

Sorbents are used, such as "Smekta", "Enterosgel", enzyme preparations - "Mezim", "Festal", gastrocytoprotectors - "Maalox", "Venter". If the child is in pain, then antispasmodics are prescribed,

Examination of the patient

As a rule, a gastroenterologist deals with the treatment. First of all, he will interview the patient and try to learn as much as possible about the symptoms that occur, about the lifestyle and, of course, about the drugs that he takes.sick. Only after that, the following tests can be prescribed to the patient:

1. Blood test.
2. Blood for sugar.
3. Urine analysis.
4. Fecal analysis.
5. Pregnancy test (for women).
6. If there is a possibility of poisoning with poisons, then vomit may be taken for analysis.

Sometimes, consultations of other specialists may be required to determine the exact cause of the disease.

Diagnosis

After the doctor collects a complete history, additional diagnostic methods should be carried out. The symptoms should be carefully examined by the doctor. Treatment of acute gastritis depends on the type of disease, therefore, diagnosis is indispensable. In addition to the fact that the patient is assigned various laboratory tests, the doctor can choose the following diagnostic methods:

1. X-ray.
2. Ultrasound of the abdomen.
3. Endoscopy.

It is worth remembering that probing is not recommended during a severe attack of gastritis, otherwise bleeding can be caused.

Treatment

When an acute attack of gastritis occurs, the symptoms are easy to recognize, in which case the doctor may prescribe drugs that are aimed at eliminating pain, and then further treatment will follow. As a rule, anticholinergics and antispasmodics are used.

There is a need to cleanse the patient's stomach, and on the second day he may be offered a plentiful drink to cleanse the intestines. Gradually introduced a diet with the use of liquid soups, cereals and jelly.

Enterosorbents are prescribed - they relieve inflammation and absorb toxins. The doctor prescribes antibiotics in the presence of toxic poisoning, and prokinetics - with frequent vomiting. Vitamin complexes are required.

If the patient does everything right, then after two weeks there is a noticeable relief.

Some forms of gastritis are treated for a very long time, sometimes it happens that a person will need to take drugs for six months. So that the disease does not recur, there is no exacerbation, you should be constantly checked by a doctor, preferably twice a year.

When surgery is required

Most often, acute gastritis occurs in adults. Symptoms and treatment in this case can be very diverse, often even surgery is required:

1. Act quickly if there are signs of gastric perforation.
2. When bleeding opens.
3. If a penetrating ulcer was found.
4. When a person is diagnosed with necrotizing gastritis.

How difficult the operation will be depends on the degree of damage to the stomach itself. If the patient will do everything right and listen to the recommendations of the doctor, this disease can be cured completely, never returning to it. A mild form is treated at home with the help of special diets, but with complex types of this disease, qualified medical assistance is required.

Prevention

Don't take your he alth andconsider that there is nothing wrong with such a disease as acute gastritis. Symptoms and treatment, which can last indefinitely, are best prevented, and for this it is enough to follow the elementary rules:

1. Careful about the shelf life of food.
2. Cook exceptionally he althy food without overusing pepper, s alt and other seasonings.
3. Treat infectious diseases in time.
4. Take care of your oral hygiene and visit your dentist regularly.
5. Constantly wash fruits and vegetables before eating.

If a person has to constantly use medications, then you need to monitor the reaction of the stomach and report them to your doctor in case of alarming symptoms. It is also advisable to give up bad habits, do not smoke or abuse alcohol.