(SBP) the presence of infection in the abdominal cavity without an obvious cause (see peritonitis). SBP occurs in patients with liver disease (and occasionally in those with nephrotic syndrome) due to *portal hypertension. This leads to the build-up of large volumes of peritoneal fluid (*ascites) in which infection takes hold and propagates. Patients experience fever, nausea, abdominal pain, further accumulation of ascites, and they may develop *hepatic encephalopathy with rapid deterioration. Diagnosis is made by *paracentesis culture of the ascitic fluid to confirm the presence of bacteria. Treatment includes antibiotics.
colonization of the small intestine with excessive concentrations of bacteria. Patients experience nausea, bloating, abdominal pain, diarrhoea, and symptoms of *malabsorption. Diagnosis is made by identifying bacteria in cultures of small bowel aspirates obtained during endoscopy or by glucose hydrogen breath testing, in which a high concentration of hydrogen in the breath after swallowing glucose indicates bacterial overgrowth. Risk factors include previous abdominal surgery, motility disorders (such as systemic sclerosis), anatomical disruption (such as diverticula, strictures, adhesions, or fistulae), diabetes mellitus, coeliac disease, and Crohn’s disease. Management involves treatment of the underlying condition, nutritional support, and cyclical antibiotics.... small intestinal bacterial overgrowth
adj. arising without apparent cause or outside aid. The term is applied in medicine to certain conditions, such as pathological fractures, that arise in the absence of outside injury; also to recovery from a disease without the aid of specific treatment.... spontaneous
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