Causes, signs and types of intestinal colitis in children

Colitis in children is an inflammation of the large intestine, which leads to dystrophic changes in the body, its limited functioning and to malfunctioning of the entire digestive system.

The child feels intense pain in the lower abdomen, a disorder of the stool occurs, an extremely high fever may arise.

Timely diagnosis and correct treatment of bowel colitis in a child is extremely important, since an untreated disease can have serious complications and torment the child for the rest of his life.

What are the main causes, symptoms and types of colitis in children? What should be the treatment for ailment?

Causes, symptoms and types of colitis

the child - a very common phenomenon. This ailment can affect children of all ages: both babies and high school students.

Thus in children up to 3 years at a time with the defeat of colon inflammation extends to other sections of the intestine( enterocolitis), due to the immaturity of the digestive system.

The causes of inflammation of the intestines in children are quite numerous.

The most common reasons are:

• infectious diseases( pathogens: dysentery bacillus, salmonella, clostridia);
• intoxication due to food poisoning;
• the body's response to an allergen( allergic colitis is more prevalent among infants);
• improper power supply;
• in toddlers - the use of new products that they can not yet digest;
• autoimmune diseases;
• strong psycho-emotional shocks, stress;
• prolonged antibiotic therapy;
• congenital abnormalities of the digestive tract;
• parasites.

Symptoms of inflammation of the large intestine in a child are usually very pronounced.

When colitis is characterized by symptoms such as severe pain in the abdomen, bloating, flatulence, constipation, diarrhea, tenesmus( false desires), nausea, vomiting, fever, fever, weakness, dehydration, blood streaks and mucus in the stool.

Based on their nature of the course of the disease, they release acute and chronic colitis. Spastic and nonspecific ulcerative colitis in children was isolated as separate forms.

Babies up to one year also have allergic colitis. Allergic colitis develops against the backdrop of an intense response of the body to the allergen.

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Acute colitis is the most painful. Children during the attack experience such intense pain in the lower abdomen that they constantly cry and cry.

Besides pain in the abdomen, kids tend to bother discomfort in the anal area, which explains the very frequent frothy stools - up to 20 times per day.

Feces are very fetid, have a greenish tinge, they have a lot of mucus. In children under one year with acute inflammation of the large intestine, prolapse of the rectum also often occurs.

In chronic colitis pains in the lower abdomen are not so strong and occur periodically, during exacerbations.

At the same time, the child's poor state of health, lethargy, poor appetite, as well as problems with the stool persist all the time( constipation alternates with diarrhea).

In ulcerative colitis in children in feces there is an admixture of blood, pains in the abdomen are intense, cutting, intensifying after eating.

Diagnosis and features of therapy

It is impossible to diagnose "inflammation of the large intestine" in the child independently, even knowing the main symptoms of the disease.

The fact is that if the kid complains of intense pain in the lower abdomen, he has a problem with a chair, vomiting or fever, it could be evidence of poisoning and dysentery, and rotavirus.

Therefore it is necessary, if the child complains of pain in the lower abdomen( even non-intensive), one should consult a doctor.

It can be either a pediatrician who will immediately send for the delivery of tests, or a profile gastroenterologist.

However, even a gastroenterologist on the basis of a single examination of the patient can not be diagnosed. The child will still need to donate blood and undergo one or more of the apparatus studies.

These can be irrigoscopy, radiography, sigmoidoscopy. If you suspect a neoplasm in the intestine, you may need to take a biopsy.

If the inflammation of the colon( colon) in a child is diagnosed on the basis of a combination of clinical and instrumental studies, it is necessary to begin treatment of the disease as soon as possible. The fact is that, as already noted, colitis is quite dangerous due to its complications.

Thus, the acute form of the disease, provided that the treatment of the child was incorrect or insufficient, passes into an intractable chronic, characterized by severe structural changes in the intestines of the child.

Chronic colitis, in turn, can provoke irreversible endocrine disorders.

Mortally dangerous is the possibility of developing peritonitis and perforation of the intestine against the background of colitis.

Ulcerative colitis of the intestine in a child is often complicated by paraproctitis, fistulas and abscesses.

Treatment of colitis in children, regardless of its form and type, should be comprehensive and carried out under the strict supervision of specialists.

Self-treatment of such a dangerous disease as inflammation of the rectum, in children is unacceptable.

Treatment must include medication, physiotherapy( electrophoresis, magnetotherapy), as well as special nutrition.

The diet for each form of gastritis is individual. The diet should be prescribed by the attending physician and take into account the individual characteristics of the small patient.

A glowing diet is indicated to all patients with inflammation of the intestine even during remission. Gentle diet presupposes the rejection of harmful foods( fatty, fried, spicy, salty), the use of boiled or cooked steamed dishes.

Treatment of chronic and ulcerative colitis

Treatment of acute colitis is usually symptomatic, aimed at relieving inflammation, eliminating severe pain in the lower abdomen.

Therefore, as such, there is no single regimen for the treatment of acute colitis, but certain algorithms for the treatment of chronic colitis, as well as ulcerative colitis in children, have been developed. We will dwell on them in more detail.

In the treatment of chronic colitis an important place is played by diet. Diet for chronic inflammation of the intestines in children assumes the most sparing regimen for the diseased organ.

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The diet provides for the use of white breadcrumbs, loose black tea, broths based on turkey, rabbit, beef, highly digested mucous porridges, lean meat and fish, jelly.

The diet for chronic colitis should also be aimed at the normalization of digestion, stool, intestinal microflora. Also shown is the use of alkaline mineral water.

The diet for ulcerative colitis involves the use of low-fat food with a high protein content.

All sour, fatty foods, as well as dairy products must be completely removed from the ration of the child.

Preferred steamed dishes. Vegetables should be given in boiled form, from fresh fruits bananas, melons, apples of non-acid grades are allowed.

If the process is chronic, while maintaining periodic pains in the lower abdomen, all treatment and diet should be adjusted: the food for the baby must be thoroughly crushed with a blender or grind, the baby should only be fed with food at room temperature. Video

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Of the pharmaceutical preparations used for the treatment of colitis "Sulfasalazine", enzyme preparations( "Pancreatin", "Meksaza") for enzyme deficiency, probiotics( "Colibacterin", "Bifikol"), adsorbents( "Enterosgel").

In case of severe pain, children are prescribed antispasmodics intramuscularly.