What does distension mean?
Distention: The state of being distended, enlarged, swollen from internal pressure. For example, on inhalation there is distention of the lungs due to the increased air pressure within the lungs. The word “distention” comes from a Latin root “tendere,” to extend.
What is another word for distention?
In this page you can discover 8 synonyms, antonyms, idiomatic expressions, and related words for distention, like: inflation, expansion, enlargement, bloating, bulge, increase, distension and dilatation.
What is distension of the colon?
Abdominal distension is a manifestation of functional gastrointestinal disorders, such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and is characterized by an increase in abdominal pressure together with a visible increase in overall abdominal diameter.
What is the difference between distention and bloating?
Bloating refers to the sensation of abdominal (tummy) swelling, sometimes described as the feeling of an inflated balloon in the belly. By contrast, abdominal distention refers to an actual increase in measured abdominal size.
What does distension feel like?
Abdominal bloating occurs when the gastrointestinal (GI) tract is filled with air or gas. Most people describe bloating as feeling full, tight, or swollen in the abdomen. Your abdomen may also be swollen (distended), hard, and painful.
What is gastric distension?
Gastric distension is the enlargement of the stomach, and can be due to a number of causes. Physiologic (normal) gastric distension occurs when eating. Distension of the upper stomach stimulates the secretion of stomach acid, while distension of the lower stomach stimulates gastrin secretion.
What is the opposite of distention?
Opposite of the act of distending. decrease. lessening. shrinkage. decline.
How do you use distended in a sentence?
We all saw her next day so distended that she was unable to walk. Several hours elapsed post mortem before this cadaver was frozen and the colon is greatly distended with gas. Some of the blood vessels have collapsed post mortem and the gut lumen is often distended with gas.
What causes bowel distension?
When the term is used in this manner, a number of different diseases and conditions can cause abdominal distension. These conditions can be related to digestion, such as malabsorption or lactose intolerance, or to disturbances in bowel function, such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) or constipation.
What causes distention?
Abdominal swelling, or distention, is more often caused by overeating than by a serious illness. This problem also can be caused by: Air swallowing (a nervous habit) Buildup of fluid in the abdomen (this can be a sign of a serious medical problem)