Disease Information for Crohns disease (Regional enteritis)

Synonyms:

bowel regional enteritis, Cicatrizing enterocolitis, CROHN DISEASE, Crohn's disease (regional enteritis), Crohn's regional enteritis, eleocolitis, Enteritis regional, enteritis (regional), Enteritis Granulomatous, Enteritis Regional, Granulomatous enteritis, IBD1, INFLAMMATORY BOWEL DISEASE 1, INFLAMMATORY BOWEL DISEASE REGIONAL ENTERITIS, RE Regional enteritis, Regional enteritis, Regional enteritis Crohn, Regional enteritis Crohn's disease, Regional enteritis (Crohn's disease), Regional enteritis (disorder), Regional enteritis of unspecified site, regional enterocolitis

(less)

bowel regional enteritis, Cicatrizing enterocolitis, CROHN DISEASE, Crohn's... (more)

Definition:

Crohn's disease is a chronic inflammatory disease of the intestines; It primarily causes ulcerations (breaks in the lining) of the small and large intestines, but can affect the digestive system anywhere from the mouth to the anus; It also is called granulomatous enteritis or colitis, regional enteritis, ileitis, or terminal ileitis;

Crohn's disease is related closely to another chronic inflammatory condition that involves only the colon called ulcerative colitis; Together, Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis are frequently referred to as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD); Men and women are equally affected; IBD most commonly begins during adolescence and early adulthood, but it also can begin during childhood and later in life; Crohn's disease tends to be more common in relatives of patients with Crohn's disease; It also is more common among relatives of patients with ulcerative colitis;

The cause of Crohn's disease is unknown; Some scientists suspect that infection by certain bacteria, such as strains of mycobacterium, may be the cause of Crohn's disease; To date, however, there has been no convincing evidence that the disease is caused by infection; Crohn's disease is not contagious; Although diet may affect the symptoms in patients with Crohn's disease, it is unlikely that diet is responsible for the disease; In the early stages, Crohn's disease causes small, scattered, shallow, crater-like areas (erosions) on the inner surface of the bowel; These erosions are called aphthous ulcers; With time, the erosions become deeper and larger, ultimately becoming true ulcers (which are deeper than erosions) and causing scarring and stiffness of the bowel; As the disease progresses, the bowel becomes increasingly narrowed, and ultimately can become obstructed; Deep ulcers can puncture holes in the wall of the bowel, and bacteria from within the bowel can spread to infect adjacent organs and the surrounding abdominal cavity;

When Crohn's disease narrows the small intestine to the point of obstruction, the flow of the contents through the intestine ceases; Sometimes, the obstruction can be caused suddenly by poorly-digestible fruit or vegetables that plug the already-narrowed segment of the intestine; When the intestine is obstructed, digesting food, fluid and gas from the stomach and the small intestine cannot pass into the colon; The symptoms of small intestinal obstruction then appear, including severe abdominal cramps, nausea, vomiting, and abdominal distention; Obstruction of the small intestine is much more likely since the small intestine is much narrower than the colon to begin with; Deep ulcers can puncture holes in the walls of the small intestine and the colon, and create a tunnel between the intestine and adjacent organs; If the ulcer tunnel reaches an adjacent empty space inside the abdominal cavity, a collection of infected pus (an abdominal abscess) is formed; Patients with abdominal abscesses can develop tender abdominal masses, high fevers, and abdominal pain;

[Medicinenet_com 2007]

(less) (edit)

Crohn's disease is a chronic inflammatory disease of the intestines; It pri... (more) (edit)

410 related Findings found. Compare "Crohns disease (Regional enteritis)" to ...?

Free DiagnosisPro Mobile Edition For iPhone, Handheld Devices And Most Cell Phones

What is DiagnosisPro?

DiagnosisPro is a free, accurate and time saving differential diagnosis tool that reminds you instantly of diagnostic possibilities and minimizes medical errors.

Overview

  • Covering over 15,000 disease manifestations such as symptoms, labs, ECG, X-ray, CT-Scan, MRI, Ultrasound, pathology, microbiology results and more.
  • Compiled from hundreds of world's most respected medical resources covering internal medicine, emergency medicine, pediatrics, office OB-GYN and more.
  • Designed for physicians by physicians to enhance quality of care and prevent diagnostic errors.
  • Detailed disease information for more than 7000 diseases.
  • Disease comparison tool to compare any two diseases side by side.

Join Our Community

Suggest improvement to our data or add your interesting cases to share with tens of thousands of other physicians worldwide.

AddThis Social Bookmark Button

This website is accredited by Health On the Net Foundation. Click to verify. We comply with the HONcode standard for trustworthy health information: verify here.

This site is designed primarily as a reminder system for use by qualified physicians and other medical professionals. By using this site you understand and accept that DiagnosisPro.com shall not be used as a diagnostic decision-making system and must not be used to make a clinical diagnosis or replace or overrule a licensed health care professional's judgment or clinical diagnosis (full terms of use).

© 2008 MedTech USA, Inc. (last modified on 11/21/08)