One of the most dangerous diseases of the digestive organs, Crohn's disease, is divided into several types of secretions depending on the location of it in the GIT system.
Most often, the disease is localized in the small intestine. In this case, it is expressed in enteritis, regional or granulomatous, accompanied by dystrophic changes in the mucosa and impairment of its functions. The main symptoms that characterize them are abdominal pain localized in the navel and accompanied by rumbling, bloating, and the presence of frequent and rather liquid stools.
With regional and granulomatous enteritis, there is a segmental lesion of the intestinal surface with obstruction of lymphatic vessels. The patient is very thin, he develops dystrophic changes, and in severe cases, kidney failure.
The second place in the frequency of localization of this inflammatory pathology is the large intestine. When the center of the disease occurs in it, it is called granulomatous colitis. Usually, the spread of the disease to this area of the digestive tract occurs again, after the terminal ileitis progresses. The primary, carrying an isolated character, the occurrence here of Crohn's disease specialists almost did not occur. Anatomical changes occurring in the intestinal wall with granulomatous colitis are similar to those in the regional ileitis:
- Transmural inflammation of the intestinal mucosa;
- This kind of enteritis is peculiar to the formation of deep ulcers of linear type;
- Their healing occurs due to scarring, which significantly narrows the intestinal lumen;
- Inflamed areas of mucous membrane appear between formed ulcers.
All this gives the affected granulomatous colitis inner surface of the intestine a resemblance to a cobblestone pavement. At a microscopic examination, small granulomas can be found. The most characteristic for this form of colitis is inflammation that develops in small areas of the intestine.
Diagnosis of such varieties of Crohn's disease should be differential in order to exclude the presence of other inflammatory pathologies of the intestine( pseudomembranous colitis, yersiniosis, amebiasis) similar to them in the symptomatology and anatomical view of the intestinal inner surface. For it, morphological, endoscopic, radiographic, and laboratory methods of investigation are used.
Treatment for granulomatous enteritis and colitis
Because Crohn's disease is characterized by a chronic course, with a constant change of remissions and relapses, it is well regulated by drug therapy. But at a certain stage of granulomatous and regional enteritis, as well as colitis, surgical intervention is required, after which it is necessary to observe different specialists.
Operative intervention is performed on the segment of the intestines that has been affected, and drug therapy does not give an effective result. In the case where pathological inflammation occurs in the small intestine( with enteritis), surgery is necessary to cope with such complications as strictures and fistulas.
And with the development of the disease in the colon, granulomatous colitis, a surgical method of treatment is necessary in case it is impossible to control the development of pathology with the help of medications. In addition, adequate diet therapy is required for adequate therapy of enteritis.