Neutropenic enterocolitis

Neutropenic enterocolitis is inflammation of the cecum (part of the large intestine) that may be associated with infection. It is particularly associated with neutropenia, a low level of neutrophil granulocytes (the most common form of white blood cells) in the blood. Neutropenic enterocolitis is inflammation of the cecum (part of the large intestine) that may be associated with infection. It is particularly associated with neutropenia, a low level of neutrophil granulocytes (the most common form of white blood cells) in the blood. Signs and symptoms of typhlitis may include diarrhea, a distended abdomen, fever, chills, nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain or tenderness. The condition is usually caused by Gram-positive enteric commensal bacteria of the gut (gut flora). Clostridium difficile is a species of Gram-positive bacteria that commonly causes severe diarrhea and other intestinal diseases when competing bacteria are wiped out by antibiotics, causing pseudomembranous colitis, whereas Clostridium septicum is responsible for most cases of neutropenic enterocolitis. Typhlitis most commonly occurs in immunocompromised patients, such as those undergoing chemotherapy, patients with AIDS, kidney transplant patients, or the elderly. Typhlitis is diagnosed with a radiograph CT scan showing thickening of the cecum and 'fat stranding'. Typhlitis is a medical emergency and requires prompt management. Untreated typhlitis has a poor prognosis, particularly if associated with pneumatosis intestinalis (air in the bowel wall) and/or bowel perforation, and has significant morbidity unless promptly recognized and aggressively treated.