Malabsorption
Basics
DESCRIPTION
- Malabsorption is characterized as a syndrome, as opposed to a disease entity, and is defined as any state in which there is a disturbance of digestion and/or absorption of nutrients across the intestinal mucosa.
- The classical symptoms of malabsorption include chronic diarrhea, abdominal distention, and failure to thrive.
- Malabsorption is caused by either a congenital or acquired disorder.
EPIDEMIOLOGY
Depends on the underlying disease causing malabsorption
ETIOLOGY
The most common causes of malabsorption in developed countries are as follows:
- Celiac disease: most common inherited malabsorption syndrome; documented prevalence of 1%
- Cystic fibrosis
- Post enteritis syndrome
- Cow’s milk protein intolerance
- Giardiasis
- Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)
PATHOPHYSIOLOGY
- Differs depending upon which nutrient is malabsorbed
- Carbohydrate
- Monosaccharide: congenital glucose-galactose deficiency, fructose intolerance
- Disaccharide: lactase deficiency (congenital or acquired), sucrase-isomaltase deficiency
- Polysaccharide: amylase deficiency (congenital or acquired)
- Fat
- Bile salt deficiency: cholestasis, resection of terminal ileum
- Exocrine pancreatic insufficiency: cystic fibrosis, chronic pancreatitis
- Inadequate surface area: celiac disease, flat villous lesions
- Protein
- Protein-losing enteropathy: intestinal lymphangiectasia, congenital heart failure
- Exocrine pancreatic insufficiency: cystic fibrosis, Shwachman-Diamond syndrome
- Inadequate surface area: celiac disease
- Carbohydrate
- Differs according to location of alteration in absorptive function of gut
- Mucosal abnormality
- Anatomic: postenteritis syndrome, celiac disease, IBD
- Functional: disaccharidase deficiencies
- Luminal abnormality
- Exocrine pancreatic insufficiency: cystic fibrosis, Shwachman-Diamond syndrome
- Bile salt insufficiency: biliary cholestatic liver disease, ileal resection
- Anatomic abnormality
- Short gut: surgical resection
- Motility disturbance: intestinal pseudo-obstruction
- Mucosal abnormality
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Citation
Cabana, Michael D., editor. "Malabsorption." Select 5-Minute Pediatrics Topics, 7th ed., Wolters Kluwer Health, 2015. Medicine Central, im.unboundmedicine.com/medicine/view/Select-5-Minute-Pediatric-Consult/14208/0.2/Malabsorption.
Malabsorption. In: Cabana MDM, ed. Select 5-Minute Pediatrics Topics. Wolters Kluwer Health; 2015. https://im.unboundmedicine.com/medicine/view/Select-5-Minute-Pediatric-Consult/14208/0.2/Malabsorption. Accessed November 7, 2024.
Malabsorption. (2015). In Cabana, M. D. (Ed.), Select 5-Minute Pediatrics Topics (7th ed.). Wolters Kluwer Health. https://im.unboundmedicine.com/medicine/view/Select-5-Minute-Pediatric-Consult/14208/0.2/Malabsorption
Malabsorption [Internet]. In: Cabana MDM, editors. Select 5-Minute Pediatrics Topics. Wolters Kluwer Health; 2015. [cited 2024 November 07]. Available from: https://im.unboundmedicine.com/medicine/view/Select-5-Minute-Pediatric-Consult/14208/0.2/Malabsorption.
* Article titles in AMA citation format should be in sentence-case
TY - ELEC
T1 - Malabsorption
ID - 14208
ED - Cabana,Michael D,
BT - Select 5-Minute Pediatrics Topics
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PB - Wolters Kluwer Health
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DB - Medicine Central
DP - Unbound Medicine
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