The symptoms of intestine blockage generally start with pain. The pain may be located near or below the area of a person’s navel, depending on which intestine is affected. Other common symptoms of blockage include runny stool and gas, and some people may also vomit or suffer from severe constipation. If a person ignores symptoms of intestinal blockage, there are dangers that could arise, and some of the causes of intestine blockage are actually rather serious.
Fundamentally, intestine blockage is just exactly what it sounds like. When someone has intestine blockage, there is some kind of obstruction disabling the normal functioning of his or her bowels. This can make it impossible for the person to eliminate waste normally and lead to an assortment of serious medical problems.
Sometimes when symptoms of intestine blockage develop, they will eventually clear up on their own, but that depends on what is causing the particular case. In some situations, it becomes necessary to seek medical help. Doctors can use several different treatment options to deal with symptoms of intestine blockage. Some cases require extreme measures like surgery.
There are some relatively severe causes for intestine blockage, including cancer, for example. There are some forms of cancer that can lead to tumors in the intestine, and if a tumor forms in the wrong place, it can block the normal functioning of the intestine. In many cases, this can happen quite gradually, which means it could go unnoticed. When cancer is the cause of intestine blockage, doctors can often deal with symptoms by treating the cancer with chemotherapy, but sometimes in emergencies, surgery may be required to remove the tumors.
Another possible cause of intestine blockage is if someone swallows something that she cannot digest properly. Some things may be swallowed that are strong enough to survive a person’s stomach acid, and these objects may not get through the intestine. In this sort of case, surgery is often the only possible treatment option. Some of the other possible causes of intestine blockage include things as diverse as hernias and bad reactions to medication.
If people don’t treat a case of intestine blockage, some of the complications are fairly extreme. For example, the blood flow to a person’s intestine can be disrupted by a blockage, which can cause the flesh of the intestine to die and start rotting. This can infect the whole body and potentially lead to death. Another possibility is that the intestine might actually burst and allow internal waste to spread into the body cavity, which can also potentially lead to death. For this reason, when symptoms of intestine blockage appear, most experts recommend visiting a physician for precautionary reasons.