Mechanical jaundice gives very visible symptoms - yellowing of the outer membranes of the eyes and mouth, darker color of urine, sometimes itchy skin. The cause is bile, which cannot pass freely from the liver into the duodenum. The symptoms should not be taken lightly, because mechanical jaundice is sometimes the first harbinger of more serious diseases.
Mechanical jaundice(akaextrahepatic jaundice ) is caused by cholestasis. Its difficult or impossible flow is caused by the narrowing or closure of the bile ducts through which it passes from the liver to the digestive tract.
Symptoms of mechanical jaundice
The symptoms of mechanical jaundice are very characteristic - the whites of the eyes turn yellow, just like the mucous membranes in the mouth. The color of the urine also changes, which darkens, and the color of the stools, which in turn, becomes lighter.
Over time, it can also lead to discoloration of the skin, which turns yellow due to the leakage of bilirubin into the blood. It is a bile pigment formed as a result of the breakdown of red blood cells, and an increase in its concentration in blood and urine may indicate the suspicion of mechanical jaundice.
Mechanical jaundice: causes
The first, even ambiguous symptoms of mechanical jaundice should not be taken lightly, as it may indicate other diseases.
Sometimes a residual bile is the first symptom ofgallstone disease . It is where deposits (stones) form in the gallbladder or bile ducts. They block the proper flow of bile, which is manifested by pain on the right side of the abdomen, under the ribs, sometimes it is so sharp and violent (so-called biliary colic), and is accompanied by fever or nausea that you need to seek help from a doctor. immediately.
Another cause of mechanical jaundice may be tumors in the surrounding internal organs. The most disturbing symptom is the cancer of the Vater nipple, which is a malignant tumor of the duodenal nipple. It is formed at the bile outlet from the bile duct, so one of the first symptoms is yellowing of the whites of the eyes, skin, and enlarged liver. Unfortunately, mechanical jaundice can also occur in neoplasm of the bile ducts, gastric cancer, when the nearby lymph nodes are enlarged, and in cancerpancreas, usually at an advanced stage.
Sometimes cholestasis also heralds inflammation of the bile ducts. There can be many causes of this disease, but as a consequence, liver cells are often damaged.
It often happens that mechanical jaundice is not a symptom of any more serious diseases, because it can also occur, for example, in the case of (viral, bacterial) bile duct infections. Then drug therapy is usually enough to recover.
Necessary research
The occurrence of disturbing symptoms, i.e. yellowing of the outer membranes of the eyes and mouth, darker color of urine, lighter color of stools, and sometimes itching of the skin should motivate you to consult a doctor. He will order the necessary tests to confirm mechanical jaundice and find its cause.
Certainly, it will be necessary to perform tests: checking the concentration of bilirubin and its fractions in the blood, sometimes also in the urine, assessment of the activity of liver enzymes, sometimes the determination of antigens and antibodies, performed to confirm or exclude viral hepatitis. Abdominal ultrasound is also helpful, as it can answer the question of why the bile ducts narrowed or closed and what leads to bile stasis. Only after receiving all the results, the doctor has a chance to prescribe effective treatment.
