Dumping Syndrome: Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis and Treatment

A condition called "dumping syndrome" is brought on when food, especially meals high in sugar, enters your small intestine too soon after being consumed in your stomach. The most prevalent cause of dumping syndrome, usually referred to as rapid gastric emptying, is esophageal or stomach surgery.

Most people with dumping syndrome experience abdominal cramps and diarrhea 10 to 30 minutes after eating. Some people experience symptoms one to three hours after eating. Others show early as well as late signs.

Generally speaking, you can prevent dumping syndrome after surgery by making dietary changes. Reducing the amount of high-sugar foods and eating fewer meals are two possible modifications. If your case of dumping syndrome is more severe, you may need to have surgery or take medication.

Causes Of Dumping Syndrome

When you have dumping syndrome, food, and gastric secretions leave your stomach and go through your small intestine in an uncontrollably quick manner. This is typically related to changes made to your stomach as a result of major esophageal procedures like esophagus removal (esophagectomy) or any stomach operations.

Dumping syndrome, however, can also happen in rare cases with no history of previous surgery or another obvious cause.

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Symptoms Of Dumping Syndrome

Usually occurring minutes after eating, dumping syndrome is most noticeable after a meal high in fructose, fruit sugar, table sugar, or sucrose. Among them are:

• Feeling full or bloated after eating
• Vomiting
• Stomach cramps
• Diarrhea
• Flushing
• Feeling dizzy
• Elevated heart rate

After a high-sugar meal, you get late dumping syndrome one to three hours later. It takes time for symptoms to manifest since your body releases a lot of insulin after meals to absorb the carbohydrates that enter your small intestine. The result is low blood sugar.

Possible late dumping syndrome symptoms and indicators include the following:

• Sweating
• Feeling lightheadedness and dizziness
• Heart rate accelerated
• Weakness

Some people display both symptoms and signs.

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Risk Factors Of Dumping Syndrome

Dumping syndrome is more likely to occur after stomach-related surgeries. These operations are most frequently carried out to manage obesity, but they can also be used to treat esophageal, stomach, and other cancers. Among these procedures are:

• Bariatric surgery, particularly sleeve gastrectomy or gastric bypass surgery, is used to treat morbid obesity.
• Gastrectomy: This procedure involves removing all or part of your stomach.
• An esophagectomy involves removing all or a portion of the tube that connects the mouth with the stomach.
• Fundoplication is a technique used to treat hiatal hernias and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).
• A vagotomy is a kind of surgery used to heal gastric ulcers.
• The procedure known as pyloroplasty opens the stomach's valve (pylorus), enabling food to pass through.

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Diagnosis Of Dumping Syndrome

Some of the following methods may be used by your healthcare provider to determine whether you have dumping syndrome.

• Medical history and evaluation: In addition to checking your medical history, particularly if you have had stomach surgery, your doctor will usually assess your signs and symptoms when diagnosing dumping syndrome.
• Check your blood sugar: To help confirm the diagnosis, your doctor may recommend an oral glucose tolerance test to measure your blood sugar during the peaks of your symptoms, as dumping syndrome is occasionally associated with low blood sugar.
• Gastric emptying, test: To measure how fast food travels through your stomach, it is combined with a radioactive material.

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Treatment Of Dumping Syndrome

Early dumping syndrome should naturally disappear after three months. In the interim, you might discover that dietary changes assist in reducing your symptoms. Should that not be the case, your physician may advise medication or surgery.

Medicine

Your doctor may suggest octreotide (Sandostatin) if diet changes don't sufficiently relieve your symptoms. This antibiotic for diarrhea can prevent food from entering the intestines when injected under the skin. Possible side effects include nausea, diarrhea, and starvation.

Regarding administering the drug on your own, speak with your doctor.

Surgery

Surgery may be recommended if non-invasive treatments don't work. Surgical treatment for dumping syndrome may involve either reconstructing the pylorus or reversing its function, depending on your specific situation.

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