Hepatic colic: causes, symptoms, first aid

Hepatic colic are attacks of severe pain in the right hypochondrium, associated with a violation of the outflow of bile and passage through the bile ducts of bile sand or small stones.Trying to push out the bile, the gallbladder and bile ducts begin to decrease intensively, and therefore intense pain sensations appear.

Most often, the pathology in question occurs in people suffering from cholelithiasis, in violation of diet or the influence of other provoking factors.Suffer from hepatic colic, both women and men, although for the female pathology of the bile excretory system is more characteristic.

Table of contents: Causes of hepatic colic Symptoms of hepatic colic The first help in a fit of liver colic What to do after the end of an attack?

Causes of hepatic colic

Disturbance of bile outflow can occur in the following pathological conditions:

• for cholelithiasis;
• for biliary dyskinesia;
• with narrowing of the bile duct or the accumulation of helminths in them;
• for bile duct anomalies;
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• in the inflection of the gallbladder;
• with stenosis of the Fater's nipple is an anatomical formation located in the duodenum, through which bile and pancreatic juice enter the intestinal tract.

If a person has problems with the bile excretory system, the following factors can cause an attack of biliary colic:

• diet violation( abundant fatty and spicy food);
• Alcohol consumption;
• severe stress;
• physical work;
• shaking while driving on a bad road.

Symptoms of hepatic colic

The main symptom is the severe pain of , which occurs in the right hypochondrium region and renders to the right lower abdomen, to the right scapula, to the right shoulder and arm.The nature of pain is usually cramped.In some patients, hepatic colic may resemble an attack of angina pectoris.In addition to pain, body temperature rises, nausea, vomiting, bloating, weakness, dizziness occur.

The attack of hepatic colic lasts from several minutes to several hours.If the pain syndrome lasts longer, you should not hesitate and seek medical help, since this may manifest acute cholecystitis( inflammation of the gallbladder).

First aid for the onset of hepatic colic

To reduce the severity of the pain, you can take spasmolytic ( no-shpu, baralgin or something like that) and some pain medication from the home medicine chest.People who had attacks of the hepatic coli earlier, as a rule, already know that it helps them well.

Actively move, you can not massage the place of soreness.This can provoke an increased attack.Similarly, it is undesirable to apply cold or heat to the hypodermis of . A warm water bottle is supposed to reduce spasm of the biliary tract, but if the patient develops acute cholecystitis, such actions will only harm.Recommendations that cope with hepatic colic is helped by cold, are also inappropriate, since exposure to low temperature can further exacerbate spasm.Therefore, if pain allows, you can just take a warm shower and relax.If the pain increases with any movement, it is better to lie down.

You can not eat any food and alcohol during an attack, because the body can regard this as an incentive to throw out a new portion of bile.The consequences of such an outflow will result in more acute pain.

If an increase in pain and ineffectiveness of the antispasmodic drug( especially if the attack occurred for the first time) should be called an ambulance.

What to do after the end of the attack?

If an attack of hepatic colic occurred at least once, you should undergo a checkup with a gastroenterologist. Make ultrasound of the digestive organs, liver, gall bladder, pass a biochemical blood test.Depending on the revealed pathology, the subsequent treatment plan will be determined.For example, if gallstones are found in the gallbladder or biliary tract, their surgical removal is indicated( now such operations are performed by a low-traumatic method using endoscopic equipment).If dyskinesia of the biliary tract is diagnosed, drugs will be prescribed that normalize their function, etc.

A mandatory measure to prevent the onset of new attacks of hepatic colic is diet. Especially strict it should be the first few weeks after the attack.At this time, it is desirable for patients to completely abandon fatty, spicy, fried foods, spices, alcohol - all that stimulates the secretion of bile.In the subsequent it is necessary to completely reconsider the ration and make the food more healthy.

For normal functioning of the biliary tract it is important to eat regularly, in no case to starve, overeat, avoid stress, do not overcool.In addition, it is necessary to drink a sufficient amount of liquid, since dehydration of the body can affect the consistency of bile and become one of the triggers for the formation of bile calculi.

Zubkova Olga Sergeevna, medical reviewer, epidemiologist-doctor