Ab Ingestis: What does it mean?
The Latin phrase Ab Ingestis ("from ingested materials") is used in the medical field to indicate the involuntary inhalation of food material - solid or liquid - coming from the digestive system (not only from the mouth, but also from the esophagus or stomach ).
Pneumonia Ab Ingestis
Ab Ingestis pneumonia is famous, caused by the entry into the bronchial tree of bolus or chyme, and favored by numerous diseases, starting from those characterized by frequent regurgitation or vomiting (gastro-oesophageal reflux, esophageal achalasia, diverticula of the esophagus, alcoholism ...), up to the neurological pathologies that compromise the ability to swallow (multiple sclerosis, cerebral stroke, Alzheimer's disease ...).
When the semi-digested material coming from the stomach rises along the esophagus and then descends into the bronchial tree, direct damage is produced due to its marked acidity; compromising the integrity of the respiratory epithelia, the damage can open the door to the invasion of bacteria responsible for ab-ingestis pneumonia (eg Streptococcus pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus, Haemophilus influenzae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ). Regardless of its acidity, the inhaled material can create a crisis of asphyxia due to sudden obstruction of the upper airways; when instead the obstruction affects a peripheral bronchus, the subject remains asymptomatic until the appearance, in the following days, of signs of pulmonary infection and abscess.
