A Prominent Symptom of Gastralgia is a paroxysmal pain radiating from the epigastric region, to all parts of the thoracic cavity. The pain is sometimes lessened by walking, lying on left side, or by gentle pressure, and usually abates after eating, but is renewed in a few hours. The patient occasionally experiences a sense of heaviness at the pit of the stomach, nausea, and frequent salty eructations. The tongue is white, the appetite variable, and there is no desire for liquids. The sleep is usually refreshing, and when not suffering from acute pain, the patient is apparently well.
The distinguishing symptom of this disease is a feeling of intense despondency, and, sometimes, a morbid fear of death.
An effectual method of distinguishing between gastralgia and chronic gastritis is by the administration of an alcoholic stimulant. If gastritis be the affection the pain will be augmented; whereas, if it be gastralgia, it will be relieved.
Cause. The cause of gastralgia is a local or sympathetic irritation of the nerves distributed to the stomach.
Treatment. The pain of gastralgia is sometimes allayed by using half a teaspoonful of subcarbonate of bismuth, and repeating the dose, if the attack is not relieved. The following is a very effectual remedy: take twenty grains of quinine, combined with one drachm of prussiate of iron, and divide it into ten powders, and administer a powder every three hours until the pain is completely arrested. Temporary relief may be given by administering one-quarter of a grain of morphine, or ten to twenty drops of chloroform in a teaspoonful of glycerine, slightly diluted, taken in one dose. One of the most effective remedies for preventing a return of the attacks is that invigorating tonic and alterative, the "Golden Medical Discovery." The patient should be careful in diet, and not eat too much food, which should not only be of a nutritious kind, but easy of digestion. Cleanliness, suitable clothing, bodily warmth, exercise, and rest must not be neglected. Sometimes it is lingering and requires long persistence in hygienic and medicinal treatment. Everything tending to promote the tone of the digestive organs, and improve the functions of the system generally may be considered advantageous in this neuralgic affection.
PERITONITIS.
The peritoneum, or serous membrane which lines the abdominal cavity and invests the intestines, is liable to become inflamed. When this occurs, the affection is termed peritonitis, and may be divided into the acute and chronic forms.
Acute Peritonitis. This form may be circumscribed; that is, confined to one spot, or it may extend over the entire surface of the peritoneum, when it is known as general.
Symptoms. There is headache, quick pulse, tongue coated white, countenance pallid, features pinched, respiration difficult, nausea and vomiting, severe pain in the abdomen, which is extremely sensitive to pressure and becomes very much distended. There is also pain in the limbs, the bowels are constipated, and, in exceptional cases, diarrhea is a prominent symptom. The urine is deficient in quantity, and there is sleeplessness, chilliness, and great general prostration. Vomiting and coughing or sneezing increase the pain. An erect position occasions intense suffering. The patient is compelled to assume a recumbent posture and is inclined to lie on the back, for in that position the sufferer experiences the least pressure of the vital organs against the peritoneum. There is also an inclination to draw up the lower limbs and retain them in a flexed position.