Erosion of the stomach: symptoms, causes, treatment

Such a disease, as erosion of the stomach, refers gastroenterologists to the most common gastroduodenal ailments in a person. This disease is detected in every tenth patient who has been examined with an endoscope. What is erosion of the stomach? Symptoms, causes, treatment of the disease - these are the points that will be discussed in detail in this article.

Causes that can cause the formation of erosion of the stomach

For the first time the disease, which is discussed in the article proposed to you, was described in the middle of the 18th century. For obvious reasons, the main factors that could cause erosion of the mucosa of the digestive tract in those times have changed, but many of them are still relevant. Similar diseases Most often develop as a result of the failure of the balance of aggressive and protective factors of the internal environment of the digestive organs. A completely different question is what caused such violations. Among the main factors provoking the development of erosion, experts call the following:

• Trauma to the stomach by getting into it alien objects or afterwards bruises and wounds;
• Surgical interventions performed on the digestive organs (stomach and duodenum);
• Frequent hit in stressful situations, systematic outburst of strong negative emotions;
• Concomitant diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, such as pancreatitis;
• Diseases of the liver and gallbladder, such as cirrhosis, hepatic failure, cholelithiasis;
• Cardiovascular diseases ;
• Getting into the stomach salts of heavy metals, acids or alkalis.

There are also a number of factors in which erosion of the stomach, symptoms whose causes are often not linked by the patient himself, cause bad habits or eating habits such as:

• Constant use of too hot, spicy food;
• Frequent use of alcohol and smoking cigarettes;
• Drug use without the recommended dosage and timing of treatment.

In recent years, due to the development of high medical technologies, it has been revealed that there is involvement in the erosion of the mucous membranes of the digestive tract and the Helicobacter pylori bacterium.

Types of erosion of the stomach

There are several types of the disease, such as erosion of the stomach, the symptoms and treatment of which differ slightly from each other:

1. Primary erosion, arising as an independent disease due to stress, abuse of alcohol and drugs from the group of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, corticosteroids and others.
2. Secondary erosion, which is considered a complication of diseases such as renal or hepatic insufficiency, blood diseases, tumors in the intestine.
3. Malignant erosion, which is formed against a background of ongoing diseases, classified as cancer, including lymphomas, Crohn's disease and others.

Erosions can be single or multiple. As follows from the names, this can be determined by the number of lesions of the mucosa in the organ. In addition to the types of erosion, experts have identified a few more positions on which the forms and types of the disease are distinguished.

Forms of the disease

Like any other disease, erosion of the stomach, symptoms, the treatment of which may depend on the form of leakage, is divided into:

• Acute, the location of which is most often observed in that part of the body, which is commonly called the "bottom". The main external features of the acute form is the absence of epithelial stratification on the body of erosion, a weak degree of infiltration by lymphocytic cells and a virtually complete absence of fibrin deposits at its base. Symptoms of acute gastric erosion are always very bright and painful, their intensity and strength are much higher than those observed with peptic ulcer. Treatment of acute forms of the disease in most cases lasts no more than 2 weeks.
• Chronic, which is most often localized in the antral part of the stomach and consists mainly of the so-called granulation tissue. Edges of erosion with this form are surrounded by layers of hyperplastic epithelium, and at the bottom there are enlarged capillaries and degeneration of the ventricular glands. Chronic erosion of the antral part of the stomach, the symptoms of which are somewhat milder than in the acute form, require longer treatment for 2-6 months and longer. The duration of therapy may depend on the degree of damage to the gastric mucosa and the susceptibility of the body to medicinal products.

Types of erosion

Stomach erosion (symptoms, photos presented in this article) are of several types:

1. Hemorrhagic deep or superficial, which is characterized by the presence of blood on the surface and is surrounded by a pale edematous membrane.
2. Surface planar, which differs hyperemic rim around the body and a clean bottom, sometimes with the presence of a whitish coating on it.
3. Full or hyperplastic inflammatory, the main sign of which is the polypoid shape of the body of erosion, located at the highest point of the fold of the stomach with a small edema.

Symptoms

If a person has erosion of the stomach, the symptoms of the disease usually immediately speak about it, because, according to specialists, erosion of the mucosa of the digestive tract always proceeds more painfully than ulceration. The symptomatic picture includes the following phenomena:

• Pain in the epigastric region, which, depending on the form of the disease, is localized in the hypochondrium or the center of the abdomen;
• Eructation;
• nausea and vomiting;
• Hungry pains.

Signs of bleeding with erosion of the stomach

Bleeding (hemorrhagic) erosion of the stomach, the symptoms of which are not always obvious, can be expressed by the following signs:

• Weakness and fatigue;
• Lowering of hemoglobin level;
• Duodenogastric reflux or a violation of the process of removing bile from the body;
• The presence of blood in the stool, which is often expressed by changing their color to black.

All the above signs and symptoms, speaking about problems with the gastrointestinal tract, should become a signal for immediate treatment in the nearest clinic where the patient will be asked to undergo a detailed examination using the most modern diagnostic methods.

Basic methods for diagnosing erosion of the stomach

Diagnostic procedures for suspected gastric erosion include a mandatory endoscopy study designed to reveal information about the location of the lesions of affected tissues, their number and appearance. During this procedure, it is possible to draw the parts of the gastric mucosa to determine the causes that caused the appearance of the disease, and also to exclude cancers.

In addition, for the collection of complete information that will help determine the most effective method of therapy, biochemical studies of the blood, urine and stool of the patient may be required.

Conservative treatment of erosion: medicines, surgery

The main goal of the treatment of erosion of the stomach is healing, elimination of pain and prevention of bleeding. Secondary erosion also implies the treatment of the underlying disease, which resulted in complications with the stomach. Gastroenterologists offer patients a list of medicines of the following groups:

1. Gastroprotectors, including "Saitotec", "Simaldrat" and "Gelusil".
2. Cholinolytic drugs - the drug "Scopolamine" or "Atropine."
3. Histamine blockers are medicines "Gastrozol", "Omeprazol", "Cimetidine", "Ranitidine", "Omez" and "Metronidazole".
4. Antacids - calcium carbonate, preparations "Almagel", "Maalox" and others.
5. Preparations with enveloping action - aluminum hydroxide, bismuth or white clay.

If there is bleeding hemorrhagic erosion of the stomach, the symptoms of which are pronounced enough, the treatment is primarily aimed at stopping bleeding and includes rinsing the stomach with cold water and intravenous infusion of blood or its components. In addition, it is necessary to inject aminocaproic acid, vikasol and fibrinogen injectively, which allows to increase blood clotting and prevent large losses.

To reduce the risk of developing on-site erosion of polyps, laser or electrocautery used in a hospital is used. In particularly severe cases with systematic bleeding, the patient can undergo an endoscopic or cavitary operation, during which a part of the stomach, affected by erosions, is removed.

Traditional methods of treatment of erosion of the stomach

Often, gastroenterologists advise in the treatment of a disease such as erosion of the stomach, the symptoms of which indicate the absence of internal bleeding, resort to folk remedies. It is worth noting that here we are not talking about replacing drugs with various decoctions and infusions. In case of a disease known as erosion of the stomach (symptoms, treatment with folk remedies should be carefully discussed with the doctor), the "grandmother's" methods are additional to relieve pain and reduce the recovery time of the mucous membranes of the digestive tract.

As anti-inflammatory agents, the use of herbal tea with chamomile, St. John's wort and yarrow is recommended. A good effect is and broth sporisha, sage and mint. Drink such teas better for half an hour or an hour before meals. Very good as a sweetener for herbal healing teas to use natural honey bees, adding it to a cup of broth 1-2 tsp. In addition, a positive effect on the gastric mucosa during the erosion of purified propolis has been proven, which must be slowly dissolves in the mouth for an hour every morning.

A prerequisite for the treatment of gastric erosion is the maintenance of a diet that provides for the complete exclusion from the menu of a patient of fatty and fried foods, spicy seasonings, pickles and smoked products, marinades and alcohol.