Focused Colic Information- Intestinal Colic

Colic in babies can be something that just relegated as part of the development process and the hardships of child caring; but in horses, it is a different thing. Colic in horses is an emergency case. In fact, this is one of the worst nightmares of horse lovers and horse owners. This is because despite treatment, most horses will not get better, especially those who do not respond to therapy so well.

Colic is a term used to refer to abdominal pain that results from problems in the digestive organs and system. Often, colic is caused by obstructions and impactions in organs such as liver, intestines, bladder, uterus, ovaries and kidneys. Colic can also be associated with the stimulation of the nerve endings within the intestinal walls.

Other sources of pain are distentions in bowel movements. Intestinal colic may also be the result of inflammations in some parts of the body, impactions and twistings. It may also arise from rectal problems brought on by trauma in breeding in mares, manipulation of the rectum as well as some neurologic disease. Strangulations caused by lipoma may also cause intestinal colic.

The gastro-intestinal tract is made up of a series of parts appended in one long tube. The esophagus itself, where the food starts to go down, is three feet long. This empties to the stomach and then to the small intestine, which is 72 feet long. This may seem quite long when you imagine it inside the body of a horse; it does not extend straight out but are placed in stacks with twists and turns. This is perhaps the reason why problems in the intestine are so common in horses. Unlike in humans, horses have narrower tubes, which make it more likely for them to develop obstructions and impactions in these areas.

And because they have no way of relieving the pressures in their stomach and abdomen such as with vomiting, their pain tends to build up until, the pain is just too much for them to bear. Problems in small intestines tend to be more common in the southeast parts of the country than the other areas. Often, this is the consequence of feeding horses with Bermuda grass hay that is most common in those parts.

Some of those affected may respond to therapy. They are given conservative therapy as treatment. Others, whose cases are more severe, may need surgical interventions to treat their problems. The challenge for doctors is to know the difference between those who needs interventions and those who need surgery.

Often, severe cases wherein obstructions cannot be removed without the help of a surgeon’s hands will have to undergo surgeries. Examples of these cases are those that have displacement or torsions in various parts of the intestines and those with small incarcerations in the intestines.

Below are some signs that surgery is already needed to treat intestinal colic: severe pain in the abdominal areas, rectal remains that are not normally seen, and long durations of painful episodes despite medical therapy.

Surgeries done to treat intestinal colic may be categorized as complicated or uncomplicated, depending on the severity of the problem and how the body responds to other means of treatment. If for instance, the bowel has adequate blood supply, the problem can be corrected without going through a complicated process. Otherwise, segments will have to removed and examined.

Time and again, people are always overwhelmed by terms they don’t know but are quite important for them to fully understand. Most of these terms stem from medical and scientific fields that seem complicated but in reality, they are just simple things that you need to familiarize yourself with so you will gain enough information once an emergency situation arises.

Today, more and more people are becoming interested in discovering and rediscovering terms so they can supply themselves wit knowledge. Aside from scientific terms and jargons, one of the fields where people become interested in discovering terms and jargons is in the field and branches of medicine. These people find exposing themselves to medical terms because they might benefit from it in the future.

REDISCOVERING SOME OF THE BODY'S "HIDDEN" PARTS

One of the terms that people are not familiar with but is quite simple is hepatic flexure or the "right colic flexure." Also known as "flexura hepatis," right colic flexure is part of a person's body that refers to bend of the colon at the juncture of its ascending and transverse portions. Also known as "hepatic flexure," right colic flexure refers to the junction of the ascending and transverse part of the large bowel that is situated anterior to the lower part of the right kidney and inferior to the right lobe of the liver.

In a person's body, there in lies two flexures associated that are associated with the colon: the right colic flexure or hepatic flexure or left colic flexure or splenic flexure. The right colic flexure is basically the place in a person's colon where the ascending colon turns to become the transverse colon. In usual graphical presentations, right colic flexure is placed adjacent to the liver and is visible but not labeled because this is considered as a minor part that is not likely to affect in the overall function of each body part while the left colic flexure is placed near the spleen.

Being a bend in the colon, knowledge about right colic flexure should be given more attention because serious illnesses can root from it. Some of these diseases and possible illnesses may include hepatitis inflammation of the hepatic flexure, hepatocellular diseases, hepatojugular reflux (HJR), hepatolenticular degeneration, hepatoma, hepatomegaly, hepatosplenomegaly, herniorrhaphy and the like.

Among the so many complications that can be associated with the right colic flexure, gallbladder denocarcinoma extending to liver cancer. The process in curing this illness may include what they call kidney knfiltration with PMN and plasma. This process includes the transverse colon extending from the splenic flexure to the hepatic flexure. Using endoscope in the transverse colon, the process tries to negotiate with the hepatic flexure so it may loop up into the area of a person's diaphragm. From here, the licenses physician will have to pull may the endoscope back so it can reduce the loop.

Another disease that can be associated with right colic flexure is called the perforated colon cancer. This kind of cancer of the hepatic flexure is perforated and produces bacterial peritonitis with abundant bile as well. Aside from the right colic flexure, other areas affected may include the caecum, the ascending colon, the transverse colon, and the left colic flexure.

For those people who know somebody that suffer from complications of right colic flexure, extensive research is a must. Aside from in-depth research, he or she should also encourage the patient to attend regular visits to the doctor and follow specific instructions in curing the illness.

Because of its complex organization, more and more people have always been fascinated with the human body. This fascination is the primary reason why people immerse themselves to study more on the concept of human body, its parts and its seemingly endless mysteries and potentials.

One of the fields where people conduct extensive research is anatomy of human body to be used for medical purposes. Over the years, thousands and even millions of research, experiments, and studies have been conducted in the hope of discovering new illnesses and causes of various diseases in order to provide solutions to these medical problems.

LEFT COLIC FLEXURE AND THE LARGE INTESTINE

Many people do not know that there are several parts of the body that can be possible causes of other illnesses. One of which is the left colic flexure. Defined as the bend at the junction of the transverse and descending colon, left colic flexure is also known as "splenic flexure."

Experts say that there are basically two colic flexures in the transverse colon: the right colic flexure—the one that is adjacent to the liver—and the left colic flexure—the one that is near the human spleen. The latter, also called as "flexura lienalis," refers to the junction of the transverse and descending part of a person's colon and is located anterior to the left kidney and inferior to the spleen.

Located at the large intestine, the left colic flexure is a minor detail but can be quite complicated once it is not given proper attention.

Today, more and more health professionals pay attention to the large intestine because it can be a venue where many other diseases develop. The large intestine—which extends from the ileocecal junction to the person's anus—is usually 1.5m long. Medical experts say that one can identify the large intestine by bands of longitudinal muscle fibers known as "taeniae coli," that about 5mm wide on the surface.

Basically, there are three visible bands at the start of the appendix's base and extend from the cecum down to the rectum. Along its sides, tags of peritoneum filled with fat known, as "epiploic appendages" are present as well as the sacculations known, as "haustra." These basic characteristics are just some of the features that set the large intestine apart from the rest of the person's intestinal tract.

Basically, the large intestine is consists of the cecum, ascending colon, transverse colon, descending colon, sigmoid colon, rectum, anal canal, and anus. The most functional—if not the most important part of the large intestine—is the cecum. The cecum, which is said to be about 6cm long and is a blind cul-de-sac, lies in the right iliac fossa of a person.

This is basically the part of the colon situated below the opening of the ileum into the colon. One can find it right behind the abdominal wall and greater omentum. Here, there is frequent peritoneal recess are present. If there were, retrocecal recess appears behind the cecum, hiding the appendix.

When looked upon closely, one will find that the vermiform appendix that opens into the cecum about 2cm below the ileocecal opening hangs off. Once the cecum is open, once can already identify and locate the opening of the ileum into the cecum. This said opening is usually surrounded by thickened muscle that forms the iliocolic valve.

Although the left colic flexure or the splenic flexure does not play the same role as the cecum, it is a crucial part of the digestive system that needs to be paid attention if needed.