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Heces pálidas o de color arcilla

Anatomía digestiva ...Anatomía digestiva inferior

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Definición

Las heces que son pálidas o de color arcilla o masilla pueden deberse a problemas en el sistema biliar. Este es el sistema de drenaje de la vesícula biliar, el hígado y el páncreas.

Consideraciones

El hígado secreta sales biliares en las heces, dándoles un color marrón normal. Usted puede tener heces de color arcilla si tiene una infección en el hígado que reduce la producción de bilis o si el flujo de la bilis fuera del hígado está obstruido.

La piel amarilla (ictericia) a menudo ocurre con las heces de color arcilla. Esto puede ser debido a la acumulación de químicos biliares en el cuerpo.

Causas

Las posibles causas de las heces de color arcilla incluyen:

Hepatitis alcohólica
Cirrosis biliar
Cáncer o tumores no cancerosos (benignos) del hígado, del sistema biliar o del páncreas
Quistes de las vías biliares
Cálculos biliares
Algunos medicamentos
Estrechamiento de las vías biliares (estenosis biliar)
Colangitis esclerosante
Problemas estructurales en el sistema biliar que están presentes desde el nacimiento (congénitos)
Hepatitis viral

Puede haber otras causas que no aparecen en esta lista.

Cuándo contactar a un profesional médico

Consulte a su proveedor de atención médica si las heces no son de color marrón normal durante varios días.

Lo que se puede esperar en el consultorio médico

El proveedor llevará a cabo un examen físico. Le hará preguntas sobre la historia clínica y los síntomas. Las preguntas pueden incluir:

¿Cuándo se presentó este síntoma por primera vez?
¿Todas las heces son de color diferente?
¿Qué medicamentos toma?
¿Qué otros síntomas tiene?

Los exámenes que se pueden hacer incluyen:

Análisis de sangre, que incluyen exámenes para verificar la función hepática y detectar virus que podrían afectar el hígado
Colangiopancreatografía retrógrada endoscópica (CPRE).
Estudios imagenológicos como un ultrasonido abdominal, una tomografía computarizada del abdomen o IRM del hígado y los conductos biliares.

Referencias

Korenblat KM, Berk PD. Approach to the patient with jaundice or abnormal liver tests. In: Goldman L, Schafer AI, eds. Goldman-Cecil Medicine. 26th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2020:chap 138.

Lidofsky SD. Jaundice. In: Feldman M, Friedman LS, Brandt LJ, eds. Sleisenger and Fordtran's Gastrointestinal and Liver Disease. 11th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2021:chap 21.

Marks RA, Saxena R. Liver diseases of childhood. In: Saxena R, ed. Practical Hepatic Pathology: A Diagnostic Approach. 2nd ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2018:chap 5.

Programe una cita

Actualizado : 7/30/2022

Versión en inglés revisada por : Michael M. Phillips, MD, Emeritus Professor of Medicine, The George Washington University School of Medicine, Washington, DC. Also reviewed by David C. Dugdale, MD, Medical Director, Brenda Conaway, Editorial Director, and the A.D.A.M. Editorial team.

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