Obstructive jaundice is not harmful

There are many diseases that can happen to the human body, but the mechanisms and symptoms of different diseases are different. For example, jaundice is an internal tissue disease that is difficult to detect with the naked eye. Its local manifestation is yellowing of the skin surface, etc. There are many types of jaundice, including obstructive jaundice. Many people don’t know about it. Some people say it is harmless. So is obstructive jaundice harmless?

Obstructive jaundice is jaundice caused by obstruction of the extrahepatic bile duct or intrahepatic bile duct. The former is called extrahepatic obstructive jaundice; the latter is called intrahepatic obstructive jaundice.

The skin is dark yellow or green-brown, and there are many scratches due to the retention of bile salts in the blood stimulating the nerve endings of the skin. Due to bile duct obstruction, bile cannot enter the intestines and the stool becomes lighter or clay-colored, and urobilinogen is reduced or absent. After bile duct obstruction, the intestine lacks bile acid, cholesterol, etc., and the lack of fat-soluble vitamins can clinically manifest as steatorrhea, yellow warts on the skin, bleeding tendency, osteoporosis, etc.: Courviosier's sign may also appear in patients with cancerous obstruction.

For patients with a clear diagnosis of liver cancer, the diagnosis of this disease is not difficult. Liver cancer patients have yellow skin, sclera, and urine, and increased blood bilirubin concentration, or no yellow skin, sclera, or urine, and only increased blood bilirubin concentration can be diagnosed. Obstructive jaundice is caused by a significant increase in blood conjugated bilirubin, positive urine bilirubin, itchy skin, and white clay-colored stools; both serum conjugated bilirubin and unconjugated bilirubin are increased, with conjugated bilirubin as the main bilirubin, positive urine bilirubin, and increased urobilinogen, which is hepatocellular jaundice.

For patients whose diagnosis of liver cancer is not clear and whose first symptom is jaundice, the diagnosis of this disease is somewhat difficult. It must be differentiated from bile duct cancer, pancreatic head cancer and duodenal ampullary tumors. The jaundice of liver cancer often has a history of hepatitis and cirrhosis, appears in the late stage of liver cancer, accompanied by right upper abdominal distension and pain, and often has increased blood AFp concentration; while bile duct cancer, pancreatic head cancer and duodenal ampullary tumors often have no history of hepatitis and cirrhosis, and only have painless progressive jaundice as the first symptom, and the blood AFp concentration is mostly normal. Abdominal B-ultrasound, CT, MRI, pTC (percutaneous transhepatic cholangiography), ERCp (endoscopic retrograde pancreatic cholangiography). Radionuclide cholangiography, angiography and other examinations are helpful in distinguishing the above diseases.

There is a kind of pseudo-jaundice called carotenemia, which is caused by excessive intake of carotene or thyroid deficiency. It makes the skin look yellow, but it is not real jaundice and must be distinguished. In addition, residents living by the sea often have yellow-red cataracts in the whites of their eyes due to sunlight and wind, which can be mistaken for jaundice in the sclera.