Syndrome of portal hypertension: causes, symptoms and methods of treatment

Syndrome of portal hypertension is a rather serious condition, which is associated with a violation of normal blood flow and an increase in the pressure in the portal system of the liver. Such a disease requires medical attention, since otherwise it can lead to a mass of complications, including ascites and extensive gastrointestinal bleeding.

Syndrome of portal hypertension: causes

Modern medicine knows many factors, under the influence of which a similar disease develops:

1. Most often, this problem is directly related to the diseases of the liver itself - it can be cirrhosis, tumors, hepatitis.
2. Risk factors include parasitic infections accompanied by liver damage.
3. Some other diseases of the digestive tract lead to the same result, in particular, cholelithiasis, pancreatic cancer, damage to the bile ducts.
4. Hypertension occurs also when certain toxins enter the body, for example, with the use of certain drugs, poisoning with mushrooms, etc.
5. To the reasons carry also thromboses, stenoses and tumors of the portal vein, as in this case there is a violation of blood flow.
6. Syndrome of portal hypertension in children can be the result of congenital anomalies of the blood vessels of the liver or may appear after umbilical catheterization.
7. Extensive burns, surgical intervention, severe injuries are also risk factors.
8. In some cases, hypertension is associated with heart disease accompanied by increased blood pressure.

Syndrome of portal hypertension: symptoms

Signs of the disease directly depend on the degree of pressure increase in the portal vein. With a moderate form of hypertension, patients usually complain of various digestive disorders - nausea, a feeling of heaviness in the stomach, constipation or diarrhea, flatulence, decreased appetite and, correspondingly, weight loss. From time to time there are pain in the iliac region and in the right hypochondrium. With significant liver damage, jaundice develops.

The increase in pressure often leads to the accumulation of fluid in the abdominal cavity, as well as the appearance of persistent edema. On the abdomen, the appearance of seals, as well as the expansion of the subcutaneous veins, can be observed.

It is worth noting that the syndrome of portal hypertension is often accompanied by an expansion of the veins of the esophagus, intestines and stomach. The most dangerous complications include bleeding in the digestive system.

Syndrome of portal hypertension: treatment

The methods of treatment, of course, depend on the severity of the disease and the condition of the patient. In the early stages, conservative therapy is still possible, the goal of which is to restore blood circulation and bring the pressure back to normal. If hypertension led to a pronounced varicose veins of the esophagus or stomach, sometimes they are sclerized. In the presence of massive hemorrhages, persistent ascites or inefficiency of conservative methods, surgical treatment is prescribed. During the operation, the doctors put an anastomosis, with which a new suture is created between the portal vein and its ducts - as a rule, it allows to normalize the pressure and eliminate all the symptoms.