|
Medical Definition of Intestinal gas
1. The complaint referred to as intestinal gas is a common one and the discomfort can be quite significant. Everyone has gas and eliminates it by burping or passing it through the rectum. In many instances people think they have too much gas when in reality they have normal amounts. most people produce 1 to 3 pints of intestinal gas in 24 hours and pass gas an average of 14 times a day. It is made up primarily of odourless vapors such as carbon dioxide, oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen, and in some families, methane. The unpleasant odour is due to bacteria in the large intestine that release small amounts of gases containing sulfur. (12 Dec 1998)