Generally, the gas in the intestine mainly comes from swallowed gas and gas produced in the digestive tract (especially gas produced by bacterial fermentation), and the sources of liquid in the intestine are saliva, gastric juice, bile, pancreatic juice and small intestinal juice. These liquids and gases can be reabsorbed or partially discharged by healthy people after normal digestion.
There are three main situations of intestinal pneumatosis and hydrops: mechanical intestinal obstruction, functional intestinal obstruction (paralytic intestinal obstruction) and ascites. The causes of abdominal distension can be roughly divided into the following six categories:
1. Gastrointestinal diseases
(1) Gastropathy: It is common in chronic gastritis, gastric ulcer, gastroptosis, gastric dilatation and pyloric obstruction.
(2) Intestinal diseases: common in intestinal tuberculosis, dysentery, intestinal obstruction and habitual constipation.
(3) Others: gastrointestinal neurosis.
2. Acute and chronic hepatitis, liver cirrhosis, chronic cholecystitis, gallstones, pancreatitis and other hepatobiliary and pancreatic diseases.
3. Peritoneal diseases are common in acute peritonitis and tuberculous peritonitis.
4. Cardiovascular diseases are common in heart failure, mesenteric arteriosclerosis and mesenteric artery infarction. Angina pectoris and arrhythmia can also cause abdominal distension reflexively.
5. Acute infectious diseases such as septicemia, severe pneumonia and typhoid fever.
6. Others can be seen in postoperative intestinal paralysis, emphysema, asthma, hypokalemia malabsorption syndrome, myelopathy, drug reaction, chronic pelvic inflammatory adnexitis, connective tissue diseases and hypothyroidism.