What causes swollen abdominal lymph nodes?

Abdominal lymphadenopathy is a common condition that can cause lesions in the lymph node tissue, and can lead to lesions in the groin area, reproductive system, and organs, causing systemic diseases. The patient's condition needs to be identified and judged in a timely manner to avoid confusion, prevent chronic lymphadenitis, tuberculosis, malignant tumors and other diseases. These all need to be judged and prevented in a timely manner, and personal body care must be done well.

disease

The superficial lymph nodes in a normal human body are only the size of rice grains, soft, smooth, movable, non-tender, and generally difficult to touch. If the lymph nodes become swollen, painful, hard, rough, adhered to surrounding tissues, or become soft, feel loose when touched, or even rupture, these are all "alarms" of lymph node disease.

Differential Diagnosis

The superficial lymph nodes in a normal human body are only the size of rice grains, soft, smooth, movable, non-tender, and generally difficult to touch. If the lymph nodes become swollen, painful, hard, rough, adhered to surrounding tissues, or become soft, feel loose when touched, or even rupture, these are all "alarms" of lymph node disease.

What symptoms are easily confused with swollen inguinal lymph nodes?

1. Chronic lymphadenitis

Most of them have obvious infection foci, and often localized lymph node enlargement, pain and tenderness. The diameter usually does not exceed 2 to 3 cm, and will shrink after anti-inflammatory treatment. Inguinal lymphadenopathy, especially long-standing, unchanged, flat lymphadenopathy, is usually of no significance.

2. Tuberculous lymphadenitis

In addition to swollen inguinal lymph nodes, tuberculous lymphadenitis also has symptoms such as fever, sweating, fatigue, and increased erythrocyte sedimentation rate, which is more common in young and middle-aged people. It is often accompanied by pulmonary tuberculosis. The texture of the lymph nodes is uneven, some parts are lighter (caseous change), some parts are harder (fibrosis or calcification), and they are adhered to each other and the skin, so their mobility is poor. These patients have positive tuberculin tests and blood tuberculosis antibodies.

3. Malignant lymphoma

Malignant lymphoma can occur in any age group. The inguinal lymph nodes are often painless and progressively enlarged. They can range in size from soybeans to dates and are of medium hardness. Generally, there is no adhesion to the skin, and they do not fuse with each other in the early and middle stages, so they are movable. In the later stages, the lymph nodes may grow very large or fuse into large masses with a diameter of more than 20 cm, invading the skin and taking a long time to heal after rupturing.

In addition, malignant lymphoma can invade the mediastinum, liver, spleen and other organs, including the lungs, digestive tract, bones, skin, breast, nervous system, etc. Diagnosis requires biopsy.

Clinically, malignant lymphoma is often misdiagnosed. Among patients with superficial lymphadenopathy as the first symptom, 70% to 80% are diagnosed as lymphadenitis or lymphadenopathy tuberculosis at the initial visit, resulting in delayed treatment.

The superficial lymph nodes in a normal human body are only the size of rice grains, soft, smooth, movable, non-tender, and generally difficult to touch. If the lymph nodes become swollen, painful, hard, rough, adhered to surrounding tissues, or become soft, feel loose when touched, or even rupture, these are all "alarms" of lymph node disease.