=Diagnosis=, as a rule, is not a difficult matter. The various
neurasthenic symptoms in a lean patient with constipation, indigestion,
and stomach and intestinal distress would lead one to suspect
intestinal displacement. The outline or contour of the abdomen will
often reveal the character of the trouble. The atonic, thin and relaxed
walls of the abdomen may readily give view of the displaced organs.
Then careful examination by palpation and percussion will help very
materially in the diagnosis. Radiographic examination is a decidedly
helpful diagnostic method.
The =hepatic flexure= is frequently prolapsed. The bowel (colon)
ascends from below upward to beneath the costal arch and then angles
sharply into the transverse colon, which extends directly across the
abdomen to the left side. The ligaments that support this flexure
are apt to become weakened or stretched and allow a descent of this
section of the bowel, which is followed by constipation, indigestion,
etc. The ligament especially involved is the colo-hepatic ligament.
The =duodenum= may require attention. This can be raised by getting
beneath it where the organ descends alongside of the ascending colon.
The effect of treatment is to release tension of the duodeno-hepatic
ligament which is closely associated with the portal vein, hepatic
artery and bile-duct.
The =ileo-cecal region= is an area that readily becomes congested
and catarrhally inflamed, especially from constipation or impaction
at this point. The section often becomes atonic and prolapsed with
resultant clogging of fecal matter. Owing to the close proximity of
the vermiform appendix, appendicitis frequently results from the above
condition. The osteopath can do much in these cases of appendicitis.
Lesions are invariably found in the lumbar vertebræ or the floating
ribs are depressed.
The =sigmoid flexure= is also frequently prolapsed. The fecal mass
often becomes impacted here, owing to a settling or prolapse of this
part. In some cases the prolapse is so marked that it extends to the
rectum below and drags on the splenic flexure above.
Lumbar and innominate lesions are the usual causes, although, it seems
in a number of instances, that relaxed walls of the abdomen cause a
“contraction of the diaphragm resulting in kidney displacement and
followed by intestinal prolapse.” The vertebral lesions, probably,
first weaken the muscular coat of the bowel, then, second, the bowel
supports (other than its own inherent tonicity) and the abdominal walls.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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