Enteritis | |
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Tissue of the ileum with inflammatory changes due to Crohn's disease | |
Specialty | Internal medicine |
Symptoms | Diarrhoea; fever; abdominal pain, abdominal bloating; nutrient deficiencies |
Complications | Dehydration, headache, electrolyte imbalance; sepsis (infectious enteritis); tissue dysplasia, cancer; small intestine bacterial overgrowth |
Causes | Infectious; autoimmune; ischemic; radiation; toxic; idiopathic; other |
Enteritis is inflammation of the small intestine. It is most commonly caused by food or drink contaminated with pathogenic microbes,[1] such as Serratia, but may have other causes such as NSAIDs, radiation therapy as well as autoimmune conditions like coeliac disease. Symptoms include abdominal pain, cramping, diarrhoea, dehydration, and fever.[1] Related diseases of the gastrointestinal system (including gastritis, gastroenteritis, colitis, and enterocolitis) involve inflammation of the stomach and large intestine.
Duodenitis, jejunitis, and ileitis are subtypes of enteritis which are localised to a specific part of the small intestine. Inflammation of both the stomach and small intestine is referred to as gastroenteritis.[2]