Crohn’s Disease - CLINICAL MANIFESTATIONS
Posted by Alex
The symptoms and signs of CD also are determined by the site and extent of inflammation. Gastroduodenal CD mimics peptic ulcer disease, with nausea, vomiting, and epigastric pain. Patients with small intestinal involvement have abdominal cramping, diarrhea, and abdominal tenderness. The pain and tenderness of CD are due to transmural inflammation. Transmural inflammation leads to fibrosis and narrowing of the intestinal lumen, which produce symptoms of obstruction: nausea, vomiting, waves of abdominal pain, and a reduced output of stool on physical examination. This is appreciated as a thickened, tender loop of bowel or an abdominal mass, if the mesentery is involved. Patients with colonic CD present with abdominal pain, cramping or localized pain, rectal bleeding, and diarrhea.