Megaduodenum

Megaduodenum is a congenital or acquired dilation and elongation of the duodenum with hypertrophy of all layers that presents as a feeling of gastric fullness, abdominal pain, belching, heartburn, and nausea with vomiting sometimes of food eaten 24 hours prior.

[1] Megaduodenum does not let the muscles of the duodenum function properly, the movement of waste material in the intestines gets impaired, which in turn affects digestion and nutrition.

The secondary causes include Chagas disease, systematic sclerosis,[medical citation needed] duodenal stenosis, and visceral myopathy.

[4] Symptoms include: It is possible that this disease can be misdiagnosed and mimic other intestinal disorders, or later increase the chances of becoming a tumor.

[7] Therefore, physical and histological examination helps demonstrate the grade of distention and the nutritional status of the patient.

[10] In addition, a histological examination such as upper endoscopy, an X-ray of the abdomen, and biopsies can also be performed to diagnose megaduodenum efficiently.

[5] To relieve the obstructive symptoms, latero-lateral duodenojejunostomy, gastrojejunostomy, duodenal-jejunal bypass (DJB), enteral and parenteral nutrition may be helpful.