Stomach cancer is one of the main causes of death of patients from oncological diseases in the world. The disease is insidious in that it does not have any special signs at first, or its symptoms are very superficial( weakness, fatigue, apathy, stomach pains).
But if the disease is in the last stages, then its symptoms become severe. And one of these symptoms is ascites. The prognosis of its occurrence is in the range of 15-55% among all malignant neoplasms, and with gastric cancer its appearance is very likely.
Ascites are called pathologies, characterized by the accumulation of a watery component of blood and lymph in the abdominal cavity. The mechanism of occurrence of ascites is not fully understood, but it is for certain known that its cause is complex. The main role is assigned to the violation of water-salt metabolism.
In stomach cancer, ascites is the consequence of it because of the increased permeability of blood vessels and the imbalance between the formation and absorption of the amount of fluid. Filling the abdomen with liquid arises also because the lymph nodes affected by cancer are destroyed and cease to remove lymph. This causes changes in the water-electrolyte balance and plasma pressure.
Inspection of the patient already reveals characteristic symptoms if there is at least one liter of fluid in the peritoneum. In ascites, the abdomen is enlarged, looks saggy, and the umbilical hernia appears. In the horizontal position, the abdomen is spread out, and the lateral sections look swollen. When stretching the skin around the navel, the venous network is clearly visible. The boundaries of the pathological process can be understood with the help of percussion. A clear sign is the symptom of the fluctuation. The patient's survey will show complaints of shortness of breath, flatulence, heartburn, heaviness and aching pain in the lower abdomen.
This pathology has many negative consequences. Long-term development of ascites in stomach cancer causes the development of respiratory and heart failure due to compression of the diaphragm. Breaking the lymph flow is accompanied by swelling of the legs and a retrograde course of lymph, which leads to damage to the cancer cells of the internal organs, where the forecast for the development of metastasis is then great.
Ascites can be complicated by the appearance of pleurisy, protein deficiency, bacterial peritonitis. The disease provokes an abscess, inflammation, death of tissues and death. Since ascites accompanies the final stages of stomach cancer, the prognosis of five-year survival of patients is only 5%, depending on the nature of the disease, the treatment and the resistance of the patient's body.