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High flow oxygen therapy for pneumatosis coli.

Symptomatic and radiological resolution of pneumatosis coli was achieved by intermittent high flow oxygen therapy in five patients. In each case the extent of the disease was defined by colonoscopy and contrast radiography before treatment. Despite the confirmation of pneumocyst resolution, recurrence of colonic gas cysts was noted in two patients at six months and one year after treatment. Bacteriological studies indicated that resolution of the disease, induced by oxygen therapy, was not associated with eradication of anerobic bacteria from stool and colonic mucosa. The clinical features and response to treatment of this group of patients are discussed, with particular reference to previously reported methods of oxygen administration.

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An unusual CT.

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Gases↗

Is raised breath hydrogen related to the pathogenesis of pneumatosis coli?

Clinical and physiological studies were carried out in five patients with pneumatosis coli in order to investigate the origin of the high fasting breath hydrogen concentration in this condition and to determine its possible significance in the pathogenesis of the disease. All five patients excreted abnormally high fasting concentrations of hydrogen in their breath (69 +/- 9 ppm, mean +/- SEM). Moreover, analysis of the contents of the gas filled cysts revealed between 2% and 8% of hydrogen gas. Colonic washout significantly reduced breath hydrogen concentrations to 9 +/- 6 ppm, but did not abolish the cysts. Conversely, deflation of the cysts was achieved with oxygen or antibiotics, though this only reduced breath hydrogen concentrations to about 66% of their original value. After feeding a radiolabelled meal, breath hydrogen concentrations rose before the meal appeared to reach the colon, suggesting overgrowth of anaerobic bacteria in the small intestine. Despite this, 14C glycocholate breath tests were within normal limits. An alternative possibility is that the high levels of hydrogen excreted in the breath may be produced in the intestinal lumen possibly from the fermentation of copious amounts of colonic mucus. Finally, measurement of whole gut transit time and stool weight suggested that patients were constipated despite passing mucus and blood. The relevance of our observations to the pathogenesis of submucosal cysts is unclear, but the data favour the hypothesis that these are produced by invasion of the colonic submucosa with anaerobic bacteria.

Adult↗

Cystic pneumatosis in coeliac disease.

This report presents a patient with proximal small bowel cystic pneumatosis associated with poorly controlled coeliac disease and pseudo-obstruction. Cystic pneumatosis is rare in the proximal small bowel and we can find no report of its occurrence in association with coeliac disease.

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Alkyl halides, super hydrogen production and the pathogenesis of pneumatosis cystoides coli.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The colons of patients with pneumatosis cystoides coli produce excessive H2. Exposure to alkyl halides could explain this. Six consecutive patients who had pneumatosis cystoides coli while taking chloral hydrate (1-5+ g/day) are reported. Patients 2 and 3 were investigated after they had ceased chloral hydrate treatment. One produced methane, the other did not. (Pneumatosis cystoides coli patients are non-methanogenic according to the literature.) Both had overnight fasting breath H2 of less than 10 ppm. A literature review disclosed just one patient who was using chloral at the time of diagnosed pneumatosis cystoides coli, but an epidemic of the disease in workers exposed to trichloroethylene. METHODS: (i) In vitro experiments with human faeces: chloral or closely related alkyl halides were added to anaerobic faecal cultures derived from four methane-producing and three non-methanogenic human subjects. H2 and CH4 gases were measured. (ii) In vivo animal experiment: chloral hydrate was added to drinking water of four Wistar rats, and faecal H2 compared with control rats. RESULTS: Alkyl halides increased H2 up to 900 times in methanogenic and 10 times in non-methanogenic faecal cultures. The Ki of chloral was 0.2 mM. Methanogenesis was inhibited in concert with the increase in net H2. In the rat experiment, chloral hydrate increased H2 10 times, but did not cause pneumatosis. CONCLUSIONS: Chloral and trichloroethylene are alkyl halides chemically similar to chloroform, a potent inhibitor of H2 consumption by methanogens and acetogens. These bacteria are the most important H2-consuming species in the colon. It is postulated that exposure to these alkyl halides increases net H2 production, which sets the scene for "counterperfusion supersaturation" and the formation of gas cysts. In recent times, very low prescribing rates for chloral have caused primary pneumatosis cystoides to become extremely rare. As with primary pneumatosis, secondary pneumatosis cystoides, which occurs if there is small bowel bacterial overgrowth distal to a proximally located gut obstruction, is predicted by counterperfusion supersaturation. "Inherent unsaturation" due to metabolism of O2 is a safety factor, which could explain why gas bubbles do not form more often in tissue with high H2 tension.

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Pneumoperitoneum without peritonitis.

We present our experience with 5 patients, all of whom were noted to have radiological signs of pneumoperitoneum in the absence of clinical features of peritonitis. All 5 cases were eventually shown to be due to causes not requiring surgery. We review the numerous unusual causes of pneumoperitoneum which do not require urgent surgical intervention and emphasize their importance in cases where the absence of signs of peritonitis may cause diagnostic difficulty.

Adult↗

Abdominal pain in a young girl.

A 14-year-old girl was admitted to our hospital with peri-umbilical pain associated with obstipation and vomiting. Plain erect X-rays of the abdomen revealed multiple air fluid levels. A supine X-ray is shown in this figure.

Abdominal Pain↗

Spontaneous pneumoperitoneum and other nonsurgical causes of intraperitoneal free gas.

Intraperitoneal free gas seen radiologically as air under the diaphragm nearly always indicates a perforated abdominal viscus that requires surgical intervention. Rarely, however, the presence of a pneumoperitoneum may not indicate an intra-abdominal perforation and thus may not require laparotomy. Such a situation is termed spontaneous or nonsurgical pneumoperitoneum. In this review, we explore the aetiological mechanisms and the pathophysiology of the appearance of intra-abdominal free gas. An appreciation of the condition and its likely aetiological factors should improve awareness and possibly reduce the imperative to perform an emergency laparotomy on an otherwise well patient with an unexplained pneumoperitoneum.

Child↗

The natural history of pneumatosis coli.

Four cases of primary pneumatosis coli which exhibit a changing pattern of severity and distribution including cure without therapy are described. No previous similar cases with radiographic correlation have been found by the author in the literature. The pathogenesis of pneumatosis coli is discussed and the literature is reviewed.

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