Introduction
Often the symptoms of small bowel cancer are rather unspecific at the beginning and only become more specific as the tumor spreads. The symptoms include: Abdominal pain Back pain Nausea and possibly vomiting Diarrhea Constipation Blood in the stool Mucus in the stool
- Abdominal pain
- Back pain
- Nausea and possibly vomiting
- Diarrhea
- Constipation
- Blood in stool
- Mucus in the stool
Symptoms
Frequently there are changes from the bowel movement in the context of a cancer of the small intestine. This can manifest itself with an admixture of mucus. This is often a tough yellowish and very sticky mucus.
The reason for this is the change in the wall of the small intestine caused by the cancer. The tumor attacks the mucous membrane of the small intestine, which can lead to detachment and food can no longer be digested properly. This then manifests itself in the stool in the form of accumulations of mucus.
Do you have further interest in this topic? You can read more detailed information about this in our next article: Mucilaginous bowel movementsIn the course of the disease progression, small intestine cancer can lead to irregular bowel movements, constipation and, in the late stages, to complete stool retention. Since the cancer is a proliferating mass of tissue that spreads, it can compress parts of the small intestine depending on its location.
As a result, the lumen in which the food is located becomes smaller and smaller. The intestine finds it more and more difficult to transport the food further, which can also result in constipation, depending on the severity of the cancer of the small intestine. Cancer of the small intestine causes various digestive disorders.
Depending on the spread, localization and accumulation of the cancerous changes in the abdomen, diarrhea can occur right at the beginning of the cancer development. The cause for this is the change in the mucous membrane of the small intestine. The food is no longer absorbed regularly, but only in part, which changes the composition of the bowel movement.
In the later course, diarrhea can also occur as a sign of passenger disorders. As the cancer of the small intestine spreads, the food can no longer pass through the intestine properly. As a result, a narrowing of the small intestine caused by the tumor can cause food to back up.
With continued regular food intake, this leads to an increasing accumulation of food in the gastrointestinal tract and can lead to nausea after a while. This occurs mainly immediately after eating. If, in the context of cancer of the small intestine, a narrowing of a section of the intestine leads to an increasing congestion of the food immediately before the narrowing, this leads to a backlog of food.
Depending on the severity and location of the intestinal constriction, this can sooner or later lead to vomiting. This can be a direct consequence of the nausea that often occurs after eating. Depending on the backlog of food, an involuntary reflux (i.e. reflux) of the ingested food can occur at a certain level.
Cancer of the small intestine often leads to pain of various degrees. These occur through direct irritation of the nerves and therefore often only appear later in the course of the cancer’s spread. Depending on its severity and localization, the pain can be felt in the entire abdominal area or only in parts of it.
If there is a direct squeezing of a structure in the abdomen by the tumor, the pain can be very acute and stabbing. If, on the other hand, slowly progressing nerve irritation occurs, the pain is often perceived as rather unspecific and dull. Small intestine cancer can cause different types of pain depending on the location and spread of the tumorous changes.
If parts of the small intestine are affected that are located in close proximity to the spinal column or the back, cancer of the small intestine can manifest itself in the form of back pain. Another cause of back pain as a symptom of small bowel cancer is metastases, which in the more advanced stages are also found more frequently in the back and can lead to pain. It is important to remember that there are other possible causes for back pain, depending on its character and localization. If the pain in the back radiates in a belt form in the area of the upper abdomen, for example, this is more likely to be a disease of the pancreas. In any case, the pain should be clarified by a physician.
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