Do you know what are the symptoms of ascites?

Although ascites is a common disease in life, many patients do not discover it in time because its early symptoms are not obvious. In the middle stage of hepatic ascites, the abdomen of patients will be significantly enlarged due to the increase of fluid accumulation in the abdominal cavity.

1. The symptoms of early hepatic ascites are not obvious. Ascites in patients with liver cancer can occur rapidly or slowly, and the symptoms have different clinical manifestations depending on the different stages of the development of ascites. When there is a small amount of ascites, the patient usually has no symptoms and it is only discovered accidentally during ultrasound examination.

2. Abdominal shape and mobile dullness. This is typical ascites caused by liver cirrhosis. It is often frog-shaped and soft, with no tenderness. The mobile dullness is symmetrical on both sides. The abdominal shape of tuberculous peritonitis may be pointed and spherical, with a relatively tense abdominal wall and a soft and flexible feeling when palpated.

3. In acute peritonitis, the abdominal muscles are tense, there is tenderness and rebound pain, and abdominal breathing is weakened or disappears; when there is adhesion in the abdomen due to inflammatory ascites, although there is a large amount of ascites and the abdomen is swollen, there may be no obvious mobile dullness or the mobile dullness on both sides is asymmetrical; in female patients, it must be differentiated from giant ovarian cysts, the latter is often characterized by lower abdominal distension, dullness in the middle and lower abdomen, and tympanic sound in the percussion on both sides; in ascites caused by abdominal tumors, localized bulges can be seen in the abdomen or lumps can be felt.

4. Ascites accompanied by hepatomegaly or hepatic shrinkage. Hepatic ascites, especially alcoholic cirrhosis, is often accompanied by hepatomegaly, while the liver may shrink in the late stage. Ascites caused by right heart failure and pericardial effusion may also cause hepatomegaly. In liver cancer, the liver is enlarged and hard as a stone, and the surface may be nodular. When there is acute hepatic vein obstruction, there may be sudden progressive hepatomegaly accompanied by rapid growth of ascites.

5. Ascites with varicose veins of the abdominal wall. This is more common in cirrhosis with portal hypertension and obstruction of the portal vein, inferior vena cava or hepatic vein. Portal hypertension in cirrhosis may be accompanied by umbilical varicose veins, and the direction of blood flow in the varicose veins of the lower abdominal wall is from top to bottom.