Benign formations on the walls of the mucous membrane of various organs of the digestive tract, formed as a result of unauthorized growth of the epithelial cells, are a very common disease. The danger of them is a violation of the normal process of the gastrointestinal tract, leading to severe consequences. In addition, some types of polyps are capable of degeneration into malignant tumors, that is, malignancy.
As a rule, this disease is most often diagnosed in older people, and the highest frequency of manifestations is recorded at the age of 50-60 years. However, recently, in children, even in infancy, newly diagnosed tumors that rise above the surface of the mucosa and attached to it with a wide base or pedicle.
About 90% of all detected polyps in the baby are in the intestine. The first manifestations of outgrowth, the so-called juvenile, are observed in children aged 3 to 6 years. They do not pose a particular danger, but constant monitoring is necessary. With the Peitza-Jagers syndrome, when the disease is inherited, at the genetic level, the disease manifests itself when the child is born. At the same time, the course of the disease is slow and can develop over several decades, which requires constant medical supervision.
The most dangerous is a family adenomatous polyposis in a child, when the number of growths can leave tens and hundreds. In addition to the intestine, they can be in the stomach, the thyroid gland. This type of neoplasm has a high risk of developing into cancer and is subject to compulsory treatment.
Symptoms of polyps in a child
When the disease is at an early age, the child's polyps are absent, except for the presence of Peits-Jagers disease, but if this problem is present in other family members, it is advisable to conduct an endoscopic examination. With the development of the inflammatory process, the child complains of pains in the abdomen, in feces may be an admixture of mucus and blood. With the localization of formations in the rectum, defecation is accompanied by pain and bleeding due to the possibility of trauma when passing stool masses through the intestine.
On the general condition of the child, single and even multiple polyps do not particularly affect. When detachment of the tumor can begin massive bleeding, leading to anemia. Anemia can develop and with high-lying build-up on the mucous membrane, when blood loss passes unnoticed, but constantly. The diagnosis of the disease begins with an examination of the anus for cracks, hemorrhoidal cones and the like. Later on, they proceed to finger research of the rectum, after cleaning the intestines with enemas. Approximately eighty percent of neoplasms are available for finger examination. With this in mind, it is advisable to make a child a sigmoidoscopy or a fibro colonoscopy to exclude the possibility to skip the formed growths on the mucosa.
Juvenile polyps
Among all neoplasms in children, juvenile polyps occupy about 80%.They are characterized by an elongated narrow leg and a smooth shiny surface. In contrast radiology, the contours of the neoplasm represent a typical picture of filling defects with distinct, even edges. The presence on the foot of the coating in the form of normal colonic mucosa indicates that the body of the overgrown cell is initially formed, and then, under peristaltic contractions and tension, the base is stretched and turned into a leg. Juvenile polyps in children, can be called the most common. They represent a special nosological form and are divided into:
- gastrointestinal;
- hereditary juvenile-adenomatous.
The histological picture of such a polyp in a child is a single-layered integumentary epithelium of the large intestine with an ulcerated surface. In general, education consists of a fibrous stroma with developed vessels with a large number of inflammatory cells. Stroma contains a large number of cysts, filled with mucus and lined with epithelium, producing mucus.
In the initial stage of the disease the child has inflammation and mucous membranes, accompanied by obstruction of the glandular ducts. Expanding the area of expression and inflammation of the mucosa, the proliferation of clogged glands leads to the formation of a mass of granulation tissue. In the glands accumulates mucus, forming cysts, alternating with the stroma of the polyp.
At the final stage, the leg can be twisted, and the lesion comes out with calves. If the cause of juvenile education in a child is an inflammatory process, then characteristic "lakes" of the mucosa are formed. The formation of juvenile polyps in children occurs, as a rule, during the first ten years of life, but can manifest itself in adulthood. A small number of formations do not require treatment, and they disappear with simple regression or autoamputation.
The main localization of this type of neoplasm is noted in the large intestine, but they can be found in the small intestine and even in the stomach. Approximately half of the children have sporadic growths, in the other half their number ranges from two to ten. Occasionally, their number is several hundred and then it is classified as juvenile polyposis. It is a form of diffuse polyposis of the large intestine and is distinguished by the predominance of secretions of the gland epithelium in neoplasms. When the disease is polyposis in children usually small sizes of outgrowths, are two to three millimeters.
Symptoms of juvenile polyps in a child
Single growths almost do not show themselves, but with the increase in the size and number of cell proliferation, the following symptoms appear:
- Blood scarlet blood that envelops stools or excretes after feces.
- Frequent urge to empty the stomach.
- Unpleasant sensation in the anus, pain during defecation.
For the treatment of a small number of juvenile polyps in a child, due to the lack of propensity for malignancy, conservative methods are used. In other cases, transanal excision is used by polypectomy using a colonoscope and a sigmoidoscope, with simultaneous electrocoagulation of the pedicle.
Polyps in infants( newborns)
Constipation in infants is common. Among the causes of its causing can be called polyps. In newborns, polyps can be caused by the so-called Peitz-Egers syndrome or genetic predisposition. Clinical manifestations consist in a watery stool with an admixture of blood, mucus, frequent regurgitation.
In addition to the hereditary factor, the cause of the appearance of polyps in newborns may be a failure during intrauterine development, when there was an irregular formation of the mucosa of the gastrointestinal tract. Treatment at the same time should be very gentle and first of all to establish a normal work of the stomach with the help of a special diet, both mummies, and for the child. In exceptional cases, it is recommended that surgical removal of the expanded cells be made, especially if they are in the anus.