Acute enteritis, early treatment if symptoms are discovered

Acute enteritis is a common disease in summer and autumn. Patients will first have symptoms of severe vomiting and then diarrhea. They may also have fever, abdominal cramps, and body aches. Timely treatment is necessary to avoid adverse consequences.

1. Symptoms and signs

It usually occurs suddenly a few hours after eating, with diarrhea occurring several to more than 10 times a day. The stool is yellow, watery, and contains undigested food, but generally contains no mucus, pus, or blood. Abdominal pain is mostly located around the navel and is paroxysmal, dull or colic. The lesions involving the stomach may cause bad habits such as vomiting, upper abdominal discomfort, etc. Accompanied by systemic symptoms such as fever, headache, general malaise, and weakness in the limbs. Severe vomiting and diarrhea may lead to dehydration, acidosis, and even shock.

Acute enteritis can cause symptoms in various parts of the body. Generally speaking, it can be observed from the following three aspects: gastrointestinal symptoms, systemic symptoms, and physical signs. Acute enteritis is manifested in the following aspects:

2. Digestive tract symptoms

Nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and diarrhea are the main symptoms of acute enteritis. Vomiting has an acute onset, often preceded by nausea and followed by vomiting, with the vomitus mostly consisting of stomach contents. In severe cases, the patient may vomit bile or blood. Abdominal pain is most common in the upper and middle abdomen, and in severe cases may present as paroxysmal colic. Diarrhea is characterized by watery stools, which occur several to dozens of times a day, accompanied by a foul odor, and are mostly dark yellow or green in color, rarely contain pus and blood, and there is no feeling of urgency and heaviness in the stool.

3. Systemic symptoms

Generally, the systemic symptoms are mild. Severe patients have symptoms such as fever, dehydration, acidosis, shock, and occasionally acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding.

4. Physical signs

There may be no physical signs in early or mild cases of enteritis. During physical examination, there may be mild tenderness in the upper abdomen or around the navel, and bowel sounds are often significantly hyperactive. Generally, patients with acute enteritis have a short course of illness and can improve and heal themselves within a few days.

By paying attention to these symptoms, acute enteritis can be treated in a timely manner, thus avoiding unnecessary trouble caused by delaying the disease.