Hiccups or Singultus

Hiccups most of the time are only benign phenomena and only last for a transient period. Seldom there may a serious disorder underlying the cause of hiccups. It may range from, Idiopathic cause to AMI and acute pancreatitis. Several differential diagnoses of cause of Hiccup are:

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Common Causes:

• Idiopathic
• Excessive smoking
• Excess of alcohol
• Air swallowing
• Anxiety
• Esophagitis
• Uremia
• Diaphragmatic Spasm ( Cyclical) after laughing, coughing, crying etc
• Intake of large bolus of food with inadequate liquid.

Less common Causes:

• Acute Myocardial Infarction
• Gastric irritation or distension
• Pancreatitis
• Subphrenic abscess
• Cholecystitis
• Perforated intrabdominal viscus wih air under diaphragm
• Phrenic nerve tumors

Treatment:

• For simple hiccups, Home remedies : Distraction of attention, fright, painful or unpleasant stimuli, breathholding and sipping iced water are helpful.

Medical Measures:

1. Sedation
2. Nasopharyngeal stimulation with soft catheter
3. Gargling and swallowing viscous lidocaine
4. Antispasmodics
5. Rebreathing CO2
6. Antacids, Bacfen. Phenothiazines.
7. Bilateral phrenectomy- for intractable hiccups

Source: Manual Of Emergency Medicine, Wikipedia

Popularity: 13%

Last updated: May 28, 2010

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