Causes and symptoms of obstructive jaundice

I believe everyone must have heard of obstructive jaundice, a disease? It is a skin disease and has shown an increasing trend in outpatient clinics this year. But many people may not know much about this disease. So let us take a closer look at the disease of obstructive jaundice.

Disease Definition

Obstructive jaundice is jaundice caused by obstruction of the extrahepatic bile duct or intrahepatic bile duct. The former is called extrahepatic obstructive jaundice; the latter is called intrahepatic obstructive jaundice. Disease CT

Causes

Any reason that blocks the bile duct will cause obstructive jaundice.

One is benign causes, such as the most common

(1) Bile duct stones or gallbladder stones (Mirrizzi' syndrome) Stones block the bile duct, preventing bile from flowing into the duodenum.

(2) Patients with chronic pancreatitis develop a pseudotumor in the head of the pancreas, which compresses the bile duct from the outside to the inside.

(3) Stricture of the bile duct caused by inflammation or surgery.

(4) Others include rare hemorrhage in the bile duct (hemobilia), blood clots blocking the bile duct and causing jaundice; liver flukes or worms that have strayed into the bile duct, etc.

The other is a malignant cause, such as

(1) Malignant tumors of the bile duct itself or gallbladder (cholangiocarcinoma)

(2) Pancreatic head cancer

(3) Ampulla of Walter cancer – also known as duodenal papilla cancer

(4) Tumor thrombus blocks the bile duct – the so-called icteric liver cancer

(5) The enlarged lymph nodes next to the bile duct of cancer patients compress the bile duct and cause bile duct obstruction. Pathogenesis of obstructive jaundice

Symptoms

The skin is dark yellow or green-brown and is often scratched because bile salts in the blood stimulate the skin nerve endings. Due to bile duct obstruction, bile cannot enter the intestines and the stool becomes lighter or clay-colored, and urobilinogen is reduced or absent. After bile duct obstruction, the intestine lacks bile acid, cholesterol, etc., and the deficiency of fat-soluble vitamins may manifest clinically as steatorrhea, yellow warts on the skin, bleeding tendency, osteoporosis, etc.: Patients with cancerous obstruction may also develop Courviosier's sign.

Through the introduction above, everyone has a certain understanding of obstructive jaundice, right? The article details the medical definition of the disease, its causes, and its symptoms. Therefore, we must pay enough attention to ensure that our body is protected from this disease.