First aid for hepatic colic for high efficiency should be carried out as soon as possible after the victim has alarming symptoms.
Clinical experience proves that colic itself is not as bad as what it signals. Such deviations are characteristic of chronic severe pathologies of the gallbladder. It is extremely important here not to be limited only to leveling the dangerous signs of the disease.
In order to qualitatively improve your state of health, it is necessary to undergo a detailed examination with the involvement of ultrasound. This will allow you to understand in detail the cause of the pathology, as well as assess the degree and prevalence of the lesion.
Origins of colic
The manifestation of symptoms does not depend on gender and outwardly the violation will be expressed identically. The most important sign of destabilization of the state is a pronounced pain syndrome. But as soon as it is stopped with drugs, many victims immediately forget about the need to check the condition of the gallbladder to prevent such attacks in the future.
To understand the mechanism of the occurrence of the disease, you must first find the source of its occurrence. Most often, hepatic pain occurs due to complete or partial obstruction of the bile ducts. At the physiological level, this is due to a violation of the functioning of the gallbladder itself.
So, a complete blockage of the duct is a consequence of the presence of stones. It is not in vain that attending physicians who diagnose stones and sand in the gallbladder always warn their wards about the high probability of such an outcome for the victim.
The primary source of an attack may be compression of the duct by a neoplasm. And here it does not matter at all whether we are talking about a benign tumor or a malignant neoplasm with metastases to the surrounding tissues.
No less often, the culprit of acute discomfort is a partial blockage of the duct due to the ingress of a blood clot, a lump of mucus with pus, into the path. All this ends with a strong spasm of smooth muscles.
An indirect cause that aggravates the situation of the victim is called regular malnutrition. The greatest potential danger carries spicy and fatty foods.
The provoking factor may be the use of alcoholic beverages, even if it is not about chronic alcoholism, but about irregular libations. In addition to the direct negative impact on the function of the gallbladder, too salty, spicy, spicy and smoked foods provoke a number of other abnormalities associated with destabilization of the pancreas. All together, this only aggravates the already serious condition of the victim.
Anxiety symptoms may appear much brighter after a recent severe emotional shock. But even if the victim has not experienced significant emotional overload recently, stress can cause repeated hepatic colic with the accumulation of negative emotions.
Excessive physical activity becomes the final catalyst for an attack. This is especially true for athletes, people whose professional activities are directly related to physical labor. Also, those who spend a long time in a bent position become a victim of colic.
Since most of the causes that trigger the pain mechanism are completely related to the lifestyle of the patient himself, doctors recommend that such people take their own health more seriously. The exception here is only those who have a bad hereditary predisposition. With such a development of the scenario, it will be more efficient to simply work ahead of the curve by carrying out constructive prevention.
The main signs of colic
Before helping a victim with acute pain syndrome, you first need to make sure that this is a direct attack of hepatic colic. This will provide a more productive set of measures.
But, regardless of the severity of the course of the disease, as well as the involvement of surrounding organs and tissues, the first thing you need to do is call an ambulance team.
The following pronounced symptoms will allow you to recognize the deviation:
- acute pain that is intense;
- nausea, which becomes impossible to endure after a couple of minutes;
- repeated vomiting, which does not bring proper relief.
Gagging occurs due to incessant nausea, which becomes impossible to neutralize with traditional methods.
Often the attack begins at night, when the patient is immobile for a long time. At the beginning of the process, the pain is localized more near the right hypochondrium. And after a few minutes it starts to give in the forearm and back.
With the most severe clinical picture, irradiation of pain into the lower part of the abdominal cavity is possible. Sometimes the pain begins to increase with each breath or even after taking a sitting position.
Separately, in the list of traditional symptoms, pallor of the skin is distinguished, which is explained by general soreness. Against the background of all of the above, profuse sweating is quite a common occurrence.
Some victims complain of yellowness of the skin after an unnatural pallor. The reason lies in the fact that bile ceases to be discharged in normal volumes and metabolic products stain the skin.
Also typical manifestations of colic are:
- bloating;
- pain during palpation of the abdomen;
- muscle tension
- increased body temperature;
- white hair;
- dark-colored urine.
The average time frame for the duration of a dangerous state ranges from several minutes to two to three hours. But even with insignificant time limits of an attack, you should not postpone visiting a specialist or calling an ambulance, since there is a high probability of a recurrence of the clinical picture during the day.
First aid
The first step in the care plan should be to call for specialized care. Next, you need to calm the victim, without using medication for this, since they can distort the clinical picture during subsequent diagnosis. To slightly reduce soreness, a person is laid on a flat surface, turning on his right side.
Doctors conduct a primary examination, interviewing the patient or the people around him. This is necessary to draw up a subsequent detailed treatment program. To reduce discomfort, experts use antispasmodic drugs. To increase the effectiveness, injectable drugs are taken as the basis, which are administered intramuscularly.
You should not try to inject the patient yourself, as there is a high risk of developing an allergic reaction to the components of the drug. The ambulance team has medicines aimed at neutralizing the onset of anaphylactic shock in case of urgent need.
After providing assistance on the spot, doctors hospitalize the victim if a severe degree of the disease is confirmed. In a hospital setting, specialists will conduct a detailed diagnosis using ultrasound and other modern instrumental techniques.
What is forbidden to do during an attack?
In addition to standard rules about what to do first when dangerous symptoms are detected, doctors have developed a summary of contrary advice.
Often people in a panic do completely the wrong actions that the victim needs, which does not bring the desired relief. As soon as colic has made itself felt, you should immediately take a comfortable horizontal position and, if possible, not move at all, so as not to make things worse.
Despite the reflexes suggesting that it is worth massaging the lesion to improve well-being, this should not be done. With the saddest development of the event, this will only provoke a worsening of the manifestation of colic.
It is also forbidden to apply heat to the place that hurts at the moment. This provokes increased swelling. Instead, it will be more effective to use a cold compress, which is designed to reduce soreness.
You will need to give up any food and even water. Each new bite and sip provokes an abundant production of bile. In case of blockage of the bile ducts, its production will only worsen the state of health. All of the above ends with undulating prolonged attacks, which could have been avoided by fasting.
As a rule, it is difficult for the inhabitants to have hepatic colic from any other ailment with localization in the abdominal cavity, especially during the first attack. Because of this, help is provided very late, or the victim generally waits until everything stops on its own.
In order to harm someone who has become a victim of colic, it is better to seek qualified help immediately after discovering a number of alarming symptoms, without postponing calling an ambulance until better times.
Sources of
- Cholelithiasis. Teaching aid. Under the editorship of the head of the Department of Surgical Diseases No. 2 of the Pediatric Faculty of the Russian National Research Medical University, Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor A.A. Shchegolev. – M.; RNIMU, 2015, 35 p.