Saturday, March 24, 2007

ABDOMINAL PAIN AND ITS TREATMENT

Abdominal pain, one of the most frequently occurring symptom, may originate from any organ in the abdomen, like the stomach, intestine, appendix, gall bladder, pancreas and kidneys. There are number of causes for this and therefore, any patient of abdominal pain of recent onset requires early and through evaluation for accurate diagnosis. However, the commonest source of abdominal pain in the region of stomach and intestine is the gastrointestinal tract which consists of the stomach and intestines because it deals with outside materials, i.e. the food and drinks that we take.



Various household remedies like massage, hot water fomentation, churan, ajwain, jalijeera, and sometimes even purgative are tried, but their success is usually limited for the abdominal pain. Therefore patients takes one of the preparations mentioned as pain killer which provides immediate relief.



ANTISPASMODICS



These are Atropine or its synthetic substitute (Anticholinergic drugs) and are used for relieving the spasm of the muscles of the intestine. The action of almost all these drugs is more or less the same. There are only slight differences in their potency or duration of action. There may be some adverse effect caused, and precautions to be observed, with these drugs.



COMBINATION



After antispasmodics, the next common ingredient in all these preparation is a pain reliever. Some contain a sedative or a tranquillizer as well. Pain relievers may not be of much help unless the spasm is reduced. Undiagnosed pain precludes the use of Phenolphthalein, a purgative, even if it is associated with constipation. Phenolphthalein itself aggravates gripping pain, being irritant in nature. All these combination have no greater value than the use of antispasmodics alone, apart from increasing the cost and side effects. Some important drugs are Meftal Spas, Proxyvon, and Colimex. Use only after taking advice from your paediatrician.

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