Every summer is the frequent season of acute gastroenteritis. Due to high temperature and humidity, food is easy to rot and deteriorate. Inadvertently letting bacteria and viruses invade the stomach will lead to vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal pain, which is very uncomfortable. To this end, the reporter interviewed Dr. Chen, the chief physician of the Department of Gastroenterology, Shanghai Sixth People's Hospital, and asked him to talk about the prevention and treatment of acute gastroenteritis.

Pathogenic inducement

Director Chen said that most people are familiar with acute gastroenteritis. Almost everyone has the experience of suffering from this disease, mainly due to eating food containing pathogenic bacteria and their toxins or improper diet. Salmonella is the main pathogen causing acute gastroenteritis.

The incidence of acute gastroenteritis is high in summer and autumn in China, and the general incubation period is 12-36 hours. Therefore, in daily life, especially in summer and autumn, we should pay attention to food hygiene and actively prevent the occurrence of acute gastroenteritis.

Diagnostic points

The main clinical manifestations of acute gastroenteritis are nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea and fever. In severe cases, dehydration, electrolyte disorder and shock can be caused. Most patients first show nausea and vomiting, followed by diarrhea, ranging from 3-5 times a day to even dozens of times. Most stools are watery, dark yellow or light green, and have a foul smell, which may be accompanied by abdominal cramps, fever, body aches and other symptoms.

Acute symptoms, drug therapy

Director Chen believes that once acute gastroenteritis occurs, you should stay in bed as much as possible, and take glucose and electrolytes orally to supplement the loss of body fluids. If vomiting persists or dehydration is obvious, glucose saline and other related electrolytes should be added intravenously. Eat light liquid or semi-liquid food to prevent dehydration or treat mild dehydration. If necessary, antiemetic drugs can be injected: for example, intramuscular injection of 25- 100 mgl of chloropropane every day; Spastic drugs: such as belladonna 1 3 times a day; Antidiarrheal drugs: such as smecta 1 bag, 1 2-3 times a day. For infectious diarrhea, targeted antibiotics, such as berberine or gentamicin, 1, can be taken orally three times a day, but abuse of antibiotics should be prevented.

Initial recovery of symptoms, diet therapy

Clarify the misunderstanding: the disappearance of acute symptoms does not mean that the digestive tract function returns to normal.

According to Director Chen's analysis, in the above cases, abdominal distension still occurred after eating after 4 days of treatment for acute gastroenteritis, mainly because the patient did not pay attention to adjusting the diet in time after the symptoms recovered for the first time. Because patients suffer from acute gastroenteritis, they often pay more attention to the first symptoms such as fever, abdominal pain and diarrhea, and will cooperate with doctors to take active treatment measures. After several days of treatment, once the symptoms such as fever and diarrhea disappear, a common idea is that acute gastroenteritis has been cured, which is actually a misunderstanding. Just like the above case, the patient's acute gastroenteritis has not actually recovered, because the gastrointestinal inflammation has not completely disappeared, but the acute onset symptoms have temporarily disappeared, and the gastrointestinal mucosa may still have congestion and edema. It will take some time to fully recover. Therefore, if the diet is not properly adjusted, it will cause the above situation, and in severe cases it will lead to diarrhea and vomiting again.

Then, Director Chen further analyzed that after the acute symptoms of acute gastroenteritis disappeared and recovered, it did not mean that the digestive tract function had completely returned to normal. At this time, diet therapy is very important. After acute inflammation, gastrointestinal congestion and edema have not completely subsided, and secretion and digestive tract function have not fully recovered. Therefore, if you eat foods that are not easy to digest, such as greasy or spicy food, the digestive ability of the gastrointestinal tract can't adapt, and a series of digestive symptoms will appear, such as fullness and discomfort in the upper abdomen and anorexia. For example, if acute gastroenteritis begins to eat normally after the initial recovery, even eating greasy and spicy food or drinking alcohol, the gastrointestinal tract that has not recovered its function will be overwhelmed, and some will turn into chronic gastrointestinal diseases, such as chronic gastritis and chronic diarrhea.

Adjust the diet: first, avoid the invasion of harmful factors, and first, avoid increasing the burden on the stomach.

Director Chen said that generally within 5-7 days after acute gastroenteritis, according to the different situation of each patient, harmful factors should be avoided first: smoking cessation, drinking, strong tea, coffee and so on. Eat less spicy and rough food, don't overeat, and eat less drugs that are irritating to the gastrointestinal tract. Secondly, the diet advocates three meals a day, and each meal should not be too full, so as not to increase the burden on the stomach. Generally, senior people should eat light liquid and semi-liquid foods, such as rice soup, porridge, fresh fruit juice, etc., and gradually supplement some protein foods, but avoid greasy and fried foods, eat a small amount at first, and then start eating normally after gastrointestinal function is restored, and pay attention to rest. At the same time, according to different symptoms, we can also choose some Chinese patent medicines such as Huoxiang Zhengqi Water, Baohe Pill, Xiang Lian Huazhi Pill and Ginseng Jianpi Pill to improve the symptoms.

Most patients with acute gastroenteritis have mild symptoms, and they can be cured in about a week after reasonable treatment and diet adjustment. However, a few patients with acute gastroenteritis can cause shock and even life-threatening because of the virulence of pathogenic bacteria. If you have acute gastroenteritis, you should go to the hospital in time to avoid delaying your illness and causing unnecessary adverse consequences.