What are the symptoms and manifestations of intestinal spasm?

Intestinal spasm refers to paroxysmal abdominal pain caused by paroxysmal and strong contractions of the intestinal wall smooth muscle. So what are the symptoms and manifestations of intestinal spasm in life? Let's take a look.

Distinguishing between structural and functional diseases

Since there are many possible causes of intestinal cramps, the most important thing is to assess whether the patient has serious structural diseases such as large and small intestinal obstruction, early pancreatitis, or functional diseases such as gastroenteritis and symptoms caused by irritable bowel syndrome. The general initial assessment focuses on:

Is there pain after falling asleep?

Intestinal cramps caused by functional diseases can make intestinal peristalsis more severe due to factors such as emotional tension, depression and stress, but usually the cramps disappear after the patient falls asleep and relaxes. Therefore, if the patient still suffers from cramps after falling asleep, it is more likely that the cramps are caused by structural diseases.

Age Factor

As people age, their intestines age and they are more likely to develop intestinal diseases such as intestinal cancer that can cause intestinal cramps. For example, if a cancerous tumor blocks the intestine, cramping pain will occur when the intestine contracts.

Appetite and weight changes

Intestinal cramps caused by functional diseases are characterized by unchanged weight, appetite, and nutrient absorption. If the appetite deteriorates and the weight continues to drop during the attack, it indicates that there is something wrong with the body, which may be caused by structural diseases such as pancreatitis.

Blood in stool

Even if patients with functional diseases have intestinal cramps, their stools will not contain blood; however, patients with structural diseases often have symptoms such as blood in the stool.

Symptoms of anemia

Patients with structural diseases may experience anemic symptoms such as fatigue, dizziness, and pale complexion, but those with functional diseases do not have these symptoms.

Clinically, most people who suffer from intestinal cramps are young and middle-aged women. Most patients worry that they have cancer because their intestinal cramps recur from time to time. However, after evaluation or examination to rule out the possibility of structural diseases, the symptoms can usually be alleviated. Severe cases are sometimes caused by emotional influences.