Vomiting is one of the defense mechanisms - it helps the body try to remove potentially harmful substances. Vomiting may also be one of the symptoms of the disease. However, the causes of vomiting largely depend on age. Consequently, different factors will provoke vomiting in infants, children and slightly different ones in adults. Find out what's causing you to vomit.

Vomitingis a sudden ejection of stomach contents that is caused by involuntary contraction of the abdominal muscles when the fundus and lower esophageal sphincter are relaxed. For vomiting to occur, the vomiting center in the medulla must be stimulated.

The stimuli may come not only from the gastrointestinal tract, but also from the central nervous system, or result from many diseases. Vomiting is most often (but not always) preceded by nausea, which may be accompanied by symptoms such as increased heart rate or drooling.

Vomiting should not be confused with regurgitation, i.e. passive regurgitation of food from the stomach, without the accompanying nausea and strong abdominal muscle contractions. This applies to patients with oesophageal achalasia, who may experience such a "flooding" of undigested food without the feeling of oncoming vomiting.

Vomiting in adults - causes. Digestive system diseases

The most common cause of vomiting in adults is food poisoning, which manifests itself with abdominal pain (usually very severe), flatulence and diarrhea, as well as headache, nausea and vomiting. Other possible reasons are:

  • intestinal obstruction - constipation, flatulence and a feeling of fullness appear. There is frequent vomiting of bile
  • acute viral gastroenteritis - vomiting and diarrhea predominate, abdomen normal - no gas, etc.
  • gastroparesis or paralytic obstruction - vomiting with partially digested food that occurs several hours after eating a meal. It often occurs in people with diabetes or who have undergone abdominal surgery
  • hepatitis - jaundice, anorexia, sometimes tenderness when touching the right hypochondrium
  • gastrointestinal perforation or "acute abdomen" for other reasons (e.g. appendicitis, cholecystitis or pancreatitis) -severe abdominal pain, usually accompanied by peritoneal symptoms (severe, continuous, spontaneous, sometimes radiating to the shoulder pain that makes the patient lie down with their legs tucked in, tightening of the abdominal muscles when touching)
  • stomach cancer - vomiting may be a symptom of late stage cancer

Vomiting in adults - causes. CNS diseases

  • head injury without fracture of the skull
  • intracranial haemorrhage - sudden onset headache, disturbed consciousness, often meningeal symptoms
  • CNS infections - gradually worsening headache, often meningeal symptoms, disturbed consciousness
  • increase in intracranial pressure (caused e.g. by a hematoma or tumor) - headache, impaired consciousness, sometimes focal defect symptoms
  • labyrinthitis - dizziness, nystagmus, worsening of symptoms during movements, sometimes tinnitus
  • migraine - headaches, sometimes with a preceding or accompanying aura, photophobia
  • motion sickness
  • psychogenic disorders - vomiting occurs in stressful situations or after eating food that may cause disgust
Important

Sepsis (sepsis) - the most serious cause of vomiting

Fever, pathological drowsiness, vomiting, tachycardia, rapid breathing may indicate sepsis (sepsis). Especially dangerous is the one caused by pneumococci and meningococci, which occurs in children and infants.

Vomiting in adults - other causes

  • advanced stage of cancer - chemotherapy may be the cause of vomiting
  • diabetic ketoacidosis - polyuria, excessive thirst, often symptoms of severe dehydration
  • side effects or drug poisoning
  • kidney failure or liver failure - jaundice occurs in advanced liver disease, and uremic odor from the mouth in advanced kidney disease
  • pregnancy - vomiting occurs in the morning or is provoked by eating
  • radiation exposure
  • severe pain (e.g. in the course of gallstone disease)
Important

Blood vomiting - what does bloody or coffee grounds mean?

The cause of bloody vomiting may be: ruptured esophageal varices - most often in the course of liver cirrhosis, rupture of the mucosa of the lower esophagus as a result of severe vomiting (the so-called Mallory-Weiss syndrome), heavy gastric haemorrhage (in the course of peptic ulcer disease, gastric cancer), less often from the duodenum (ulcer).

The reason for the appearance of coffee grounds may be: stomach ulcers,duodenal (digestive, drug-induced) gastric cancer haemorrhagic gastritis, gastric fundus varicose veins.

Stool vomiting - what does it mean?

Stool vomiting may indicate an intestinal obstruction.

Green vomiting, bile vomiting - causes

Yellow is responsible for the green color of vomit. They come from the duodenum. This often happens, for example in the case of poisoning, migraine attacks, typical vomiting of pregnant women.

Vomiting in newborns and infants - causes

In infants, "spilling" a small amount of food ( <5-10 ml) podczas karmienia lub wkrótce potem (często połączone z odbijaniem) jest normalne. Nawet wymioty, które występują okresowo, są normą. Za nieprawidłowe uznaje się częste ich pojawianie się. Do najczęstszych przyczyn wymiotów u noworodków i niemowląt wymienia się:

  • acute viral gastroenteritis ( gastroenteritis ) - diarrhea, fever
  • gastroesophageal reflux - irritability, choking, respiratory symptoms (e.g. wheezing), poor weight gain;

Other important reasons are:

  • pyloric stenosis - newborns 3-6 weeks of age experience recurrent, flashing vomiting immediately after feeding. sometimes there is an olive-like swelling in the upper right square of the abdomen, reduced volume of stools
  • intestinal obstruction (obstruction, intestinal twist, intestinal atresia, stenosis) - abdominal distension, biliary vomiting in the first 24-48 hours of life (except for stenosis when it occurs later), jaundice
  • intussusception (especially in babies aged>3 months) - worsening colic-like abdominal pain, crying difficult to control, pulling the legs up to the abdomen. Then increasing coma, bloody stools. These symptoms usually occur between the ages of 3-36 months

The less common causes of recurrent vomiting include Hirschsprung's disease (a congenital disorder of the innervation of the intestine), food intolerance (abdominal pain, diarrhea, and sometimes rash such as rash or urticaria) and metabolic disorders (difficulty in feeding, lack of proper development and growth, enlarged liver and spleen, jaundice, abnormal body shape (dysmorphism), unusual baby smell)

Important

Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome

Cyclic Vomiting Syndromeis a rare disease characterized by recurrent attacks of persistent vomiting (sometimes just nausea) occurring at different intervals with no disease symptoms between episodes.

This disorder usually occurs in children (most often around the age of 5) and resolves with adulthood. The condition may be related to migraine headaches and is possibly one of the symptoms of migraine (called abdominal migraine).

Vomiting in children and adolescents - causes

The most common causes of vomiting in thisthe age group includesacute gastroenteritis( gastroenteritis ). Other possible reasons are:

  • gastroesophageal reflux - in a child it will be the child's constant capriciousness after eating, spitting out food, bending of the back ("stretching"), poor weight gain
  • infection outside the gastrointestinal tract - fever, often symptoms that facilitate the localization of the cause (e.g. headache, earache or throat pain, enlarged cervical lymph nodes, painful urination, pain in the lumbar region, chronic runny nose)
  • appendicitis - initially general malaise and unclear discomfort around the navel, then pain in the lower right abdominal square, vomiting, reluctance to eat, fever
  • severe infection, e.g. pyelonephritis (fever, back pain, painful urination), meningitis (stiff neck, photophobia)
  • intracranial hypertension (nervous or traumatic) - frequent waking up at night, recurring headaches that increase with coughing, neck stiffness, visual disturbances, weight loss, photophobia
  • eating disorders (e.g. anorexia, bulimia) - overeating or purging cycles, erosion of tooth enamel, changes in hands caused by attempts to induce vomiting (Russell's symptom)
  • consumption of a toxic substance, often in excessive amounts, e.g. alcohol
  • pregnancy
Important

Vomiting - complications

Forced vomiting can lead to dehydration and electrolyte disturbances or, less commonly, to the formation of esophageal ruptures (Mallory Weiss syndrome) or full-wall disruption of the esophagus (Boerhaave syndrome). Chronic vomiting causes symptoms of malnutrition, weight loss and metabolic disorders.

About the authorMonika Majewska A journalist specializing in he alth issues, especially in the areas of medicine, he alth protection and he althy eating. Author of news, guides, interviews with experts and reports. Participant of the largest Polish National Medical Conference "Polish woman in Europe", organized by the "Journalists for He alth" Association, as well as specialist workshops and seminars for journalists organized by the Association.

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Category:

Gastrology