OBJECTIVE To study fructose malabsorption in children and adolescents with abdominal pain associated with functional gastrointestinal disorders. As an additional objective, the association between intestinal fructose malabsorption and food intake, including the estimated fructose consumption, weight, height, and lactulose fermentability were also studied. METHODS The study included 31 patient...

Complications are more likely in cirrhotic patients with ascites and Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) scores of 12 or greater plus international normalized ratios (INRs) of 1.2 or greater. Rifaximin (Xifaxan, Salix) therapy, however, may ameliorate risk. These were the findings of a post hoc analysis presented by Steven L. Flamm, MD, of Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicag...

Hepatic encephalopathy (HE) is a complex disease requiring a multidisciplinary approach among specialists, primary care team, family, and caregivers. HE is currently a diagnosis of exclusion, requiring an extensive workup to exclude other possible etiologies, including mental status changes, metabolic, infectious, traumatic, and iatrogenic causes. The categorization of HE encompasses a continuu...

Hepatic encephalopathy (HE) is a serious but usually reversible neuropsychiatric complication of cirrhosis, inborn errors of metabolism involving disorders of the urea cycle, and noncirrhotic portosystemic shunting that most commonly arises from a transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunting procedure. Symptoms can include alterations in cognitive function, neuromuscular activity, and consc...

BACKGROUND It is well-known that nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) can cause damage to the small bowel associated with disruption of mucosal barrier function. In healthy human volunteers, we showed previously that topical administration of adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP) by naso-intestinal tube attenuated a rise in small intestinal permeability induced by short-term challenge with t...

BACKGROUND Atopic dermatitis (AD) is an immune mediated disease with complex pathogenesis characterised by persistency, frequent exacerbations, and inefficacy of existing therapies. Damaged or weakened intestinal microbiocenosis is considered as an important aetiological factor of AD. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of medical preparation Lactofiltrum (lactulose an...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effects of conventional treatment of chronic functional constipation on total and segmental colonic transit times and on orocecal transit time. METHODS A total of 34 consecutive patients with functional constipation attending a specialized outpatient clinic were included in the study. Total and segmental colonic transit times were assessed using radiopaque markers. H...

This paper covers algorithms for the management of regurgitation, constipation and infantile colic in infants. Anti-regurgitation formula may be considered in infants with troublesome regurgitation, while diagnostic investigations or drug therapy are not indicated in the absence of warning signs. Although probiotics have shown some positive evidence for the management of functional gastrointest...

A 56-year-old female with a prior medical history of congenital mental retardation, hypercholesterolemia, and hypothyroidism consulted for severe constipation refractory to laxatives, which required enemas for evacuation, associated with abdominal distension and weight loss –8 kg over the last six months–. Physical examination revealed a hard, long, rounded mass measuring 8 x 10 cm in the centr...