General information
The duodenum is located as part of the five to six meter long intestinal tube directly adjacent to the stomach gate and forms the first part of the small intestine as a 30 cm long C-shaped curve. It is located approximately at the level of the costal arch, the edge of the lowest rib, slightly to the right of the midline. Its immediate neighbors are the stomach, to which it is connected, as well as the liver, the gallbladder, the right kidney and the pancreas.
The pancreas releases its digestive secretion through a long duct together with the bile from the gall bladder into the duodenum. This is also the reason why the duodenum is responsible for neutralizing the hydrochloric acid in the stomach, which is transported from the stomach to the intestine with food, and for splitting up the food components. This all happens with the help of basic secretions as well as the bile and the enzymes produced and released by the pancreas.
In medical terminology, the duodenum is called the duodenum. Furthermore, an inflammation in medicine is always identified by the word ending “-itis”, which easily gives the technically correct name of an inflammation of the duodenum: The duodenitis. The reason for naming the duodenum after the twelve fingers lies in its approximate width of 12 fingers.
The individual layers of the intestinal wall are divided from inside to outside into an inner layer of mucous membrane surrounded by 2 views of muscles and connective tissue. Duodenitis generally affects the inner mucosal layer. If deeper layers are also affected, it is called an ulcer.
Symptoms
The signs of inflammation can be very different. It is not uncommon for it to go unnoticed and be detected only by chance, if at all. The classic signs of inflammation in the duodenum are accompanied by nausea, vomiting, pressing or stabbing pain under the costal arch, and appetite and digestive disorders.
Occasionally, the pain may also appear in the back. This makes it difficult to diagnose. In the case of duodenal ulcers, these signs occur mainly in the time between meals or on an empty stomach and improve with food intake, i.e. the pain subsides after eating.
Patients suffering from a duodenal ulcer due to a permanent inflammation should always consult a doctor immediately if they experience signs such as severe abdominal pain, bloody or black stools or vomiting, as these can be signs of bleeding into the intestine. Duodenitis can rarely be a cause of diarrhea. Of course, diarrhoea can occur for other reasons parallel to duodenitis.
If the excretory duct of the pancreas and gallbladder is also inflamed, pancreatitis (= inflammation of the pancreas) or a backlog of bile can be the result. Inflammation of the pancreas manifests itself with a bloated abdomen, belt-like pain (=pain that runs like a belt around the abdomen) as well as nausea and vomiting. From a certain point on, the gall bladder congestion can be recognized by the yellowing of the eyes and later of the entire skin, the so-called jaundice (=ictus).
