Characteristic Symptoms.—Acute and spasmodic pain, tenderness and distention in the bowels, moderate fever, straining and a constant desire to defecate, small stools containing blood and mucus, loss of weight and marked anemia when condition becomes chronic.
Treatment.—Rest in bed absolutely necessary; the use of the bedpan made obligatory; soreness relieved by hot turpentine stupes or spice poultices.
Dietetic Treatment.—No food for a period of from thirty-six to forty-eight hours, after which fluids and the régime recommended in acute diarrhea are advisable. In chronic dysentery the diet is practically the same. The extreme exhaustion and anemia accompanying these conditions make it necessary to increase the diet carefully but soon to offset as far as possible the devastating effects of the disease.
APPENDICITIS
Treatment.—Confinement to bed is absolutely necessary while acute symptoms prevail. The life of the patient may depend upon the care with which this “quiet” period is carried out. No food should be given for twelve or more hours to enable the physician to make a proper diagnosis and to allow the intestinal tract and appendix complete rest from the irritating effects of food passing down the canal.
Dietetic Treatment.—Acute Stage: Total abstinence for a period, after which fluids as given in other acute intestinal disorders. No solid food until acute symptoms have subsided; then a gradual return to normal.
Convalescence.—When tenderness in right side has disappeared, the return to a normal diet is made gradually. Gelatin, soft eggs, soft toast, fine cereal gruels, well-cooked rice, well-baked white potatoes, tender rare beefsteak or lamb chops, the breast of chicken, sweetbreads, and brains are recommended.
Relapse or Recurring Appendicitis.—The patient must be warned against eating indigestible foods or any kind of foods liable to cause constipation; also against overeating or eating when over-heated or over-tired. One attack predisposes to another, hence the above precautions are necessary to prevent the condition from becoming chronic.