Large intestinal fluke nest detected in duodenum of 56-year-old patient

Detect disease when abdominal pain is unusual

Patient LTM in Dien Chau district had abdominal pain above the navel for the past 10 days. At first, she thought this was a normal sign due to poor digestion, but the pain persisted for the past few days, showing no signs of abating, so she went to the hospital for a check-up.

Doctors at Vinh International Hospital performed a duodenoscopy and discovered that the patient had intestinal flukes. Photo: Lam Giang

Doctor CKII. Phung Thi Hang - Head of Internal Medicine Department, directly treating patient M. said: “Tperform duodenoscopy of the patient,Whenendoscopy into the DII and DIII duodenum,I found many 2-3 cm long flukes moving and used a basket to remove them.

After endoscopy to remove the tapeworm, the patient is hospitalized and treated with tapeworm treatment according to the protocol.

Image of tapeworm on endoscopy screen. Photo: Lam Giang

Intestinal flukes, also known as betel flukes, are the largest parasites that parasitize humans. Humans can be infected with flukes by eating aquatic plants (corn, lotus shoots, celery, etc.) contaminated with fluke larvae. These cases are common in areas where pigs are raised, there are many ponds, lakes, and freshwater plants are used.

Symptomand treatment methods

When infected with intestinal flukes, the patient may have the following symptoms: Feeling tired, lethargic; weight loss, anemia, abdominal pain, unusual diarrhea, digestive disorders, and abdominal distension.

If these symptoms persist, the patient may experience generalized edema, facial edema, abdominal edema, leg edema, pericardial effusion, pleural effusion, ascites, and even death due to exhaustion. In addition, infection with a large number of worms can lead to intestinal obstruction or intestinal perforation.

Image of a tapeworm just removed from a patient's duodenum. Photo: Lam Giang

According to Dr. CKII. Phung Thi Hang,There are several drugs indicated for the treatment of intestinal flukes, however, the best choice is Praziquantel at a dose of 25 mg/kg x 3 times/day x 1 day.

To prevent intestinal flukes in particular and other types of flukes, we need to avoid eating raw plants, manage waste sources of pigs, buffaloes, cows, eat cooked food and drink boiled water, wash our hands before eating, after going to the toilet... keep the living environment clean.

Doctors recommend that if you experience fatigue, abdominal pain, or chronic anemia, you should immediately go to a reputable medical facility for examination, to find the cause of the disease, and for effective treatment./.