A fairly common bowel disease in children is colitis. For such a pathology is characterized by the development of an inflammatory dystrophic process in the mucous tissues of the large intestine.
In connection with the anatomical features of the organism of babies up to the age of one year in such patients, colitis causes simultaneous inflammation of the large and small intestines, which in the medical language sounds like enterocolitis. In children of older age, inflammation is localized directly in the mucous colon.
Definition of
So, colitis in children is called the poly-inflammatory pathology of the large intestine, which is accompanied by dystrophic processes in the mucous tissues. It is characterized by dysfunctional disorders of colonic activity and proceeds with strong pain sensations.
Causes of
Pediatric gastroenterologists identify many causes that can lead to the onset of colitis. Acute forms develop against the background:
- Intestinal infectious lesions like shigellosis or yersiniosis, salmonellosis and escherichiosis, rotavirus infection or foodborne toxicity. With a similar etiology, children's colitis is usually combined with gastroenteritis, gastritis or enteritis.
- It happens that acute colitis occurs against the background of individual hypersensitivity or intolerance to certain food components, non-compliance with the recommended diet or radiation effects.
Chronic colitis develops on the background of an untreated acute type of disease, as well as in pathologies like:
- Parasitic or helminthic invasions such as giardiasis or ascariasis;
- Frequent eating disorders;
- Uncontrolled use of drug therapy with antibiotic or laxative drugs. And also NSAIDs;
- Exposure to toxic household substances;
- Insufficient secretory activity of digestive glandular structures;
- of dysbiosis, etc..
In addition, inflammatory colonic lesions occur on the background of children's vascular dystonia, psychogenic disorders, genetic predisposition, congenital abnormalities of the intestinal development and physical inactivity.
Often, cases of adolescent colitis are caused by the presence in the younger generation of bad habits. Lesions of a large intestinal secondary character are closely related to endocrine pathologies like myxedema and hypothyroidism, as well as nervous system pathologies( cerebral palsy and myasthenia gravis).
Classification of
Baby colitis is classified into several groups. In accordance with the number of affected segments and the localization of the inflammatory process, colitis is as follows:
- Sigmoiditis when the sigmoid colon is affected;
- Tiflitis, when the blind intestine is isolated;
- Proctitis is characterized by a lesion of the rectum department;
- Tiflokolit is a cumulative inflammation of the blind and ascending colon;
- Angulitis - inflammatory lesion of the descending and transversely colon;
- Proctosigmoiditis - the lesion covers the rectum and sigmoid colon;
- Transversitis is an inflammation of the transverse-colon intestine.
Depending on the etiology of the inflammatory process, colitis can be infectious or toxic, medicated, secondary or allergic, parasitic and neurotic, as well as unexplained etiology. According to the nature of the course, large intestine inflammations are latent, recurrent and progressive.
In clinical forms, colitis is divided into chronic and acute, and by structural changes, inflammation is divided into atrophic, catarrhal or erosive-ulcerative colitis. Depending on the degree of severity, intestinal inflammations are severe, mild or moderate.
Symptoms of colitis in a child
Acute inflammation of the rectum, provoked by infectious factors, occurs with toxic symptoms, which includes:
- Hyperthermia and weakness;
- Anorexia and vomiting;
- The intestine is troubled by spasms that cause severe pain and false defecation;
- A chair can harass a child up to 15 times a day;
- Fecal masses in colitis are frothy and watery, greenish with impurities of bloody veins and mucous masses.
- Sometimes in the process of defecation the baby has a prolapse of the intestine.
- Usually, children with this diagnosis are characterized by signs of dehydration, which include dry tissue, oliguria and skin flaccidity, and external features become pointed.
Regarding the colitis of chronic form, they are distinguished by a wavy flow with a periodic change in the remission periods and exacerbations. Painful signs and disorders of the stool are the main signs of colonic inflammatory lesions.
Problems with stools in chronic colitis can occur in the form of diarrhea, constipation, or their periodic alternation. In the intestine, rumbling is observed, distention of the abdomen is disturbed, gas formation is increased.
Long-term development of chronic intestinal inflammation provokes the development of anemia, excessive weakness, weight loss and insomnia, as well as hypovitaminosis or growth retardation in young patients.
Complications of
Lack of proper treatment can provoke the development of internal bleeding that threatens the life of a small patient.
Also one of the frequent complications is the perforation of the intestinal walls, passing into peritonitis, intestinal obstruction or appendicitis.
Such complications are very dangerous, so the appearance of the first signs of pathology requires a mandatory call to a specialist to avoid undesirable, and in some cases, irreversible consequences.
Diagnosis
To confirm the diagnosis, a small patient is given a set of diagnostic measures with the appointment of such procedures as:
- Biochemistry of blood;
- Study of stool;
- Endoscopic examination of the intestine;
- X-ray examination of intestinal tissue, etc.
Treatment of the disease in children
colitis therapy in pediatric patients should be comprehensive and not be limited to receiving antibiotic therapy and dietary ration.
Treatment consists in taking antibacterial drugs( Eitromycin or Enteroseptol), enzymatic( Mezim) and probiotic drugs( Bifidumbacterin), pain medication( Novokain or Platifillin), which allows to relieve small patients from severe pain symptoms.
An excellent tool for eliminating the symptoms of colitis is a group of drugs that envelops and binds.
These include bismuth, infusions of St. John's wort or chamomile. Practice shows that the use of these tools can accelerate the process of recovery of children. Since often enough colitis in a child is a consequence of an allergic reaction, the symptomatology of the disease is significantly reduced when taking antihistamines such as Fenistil or Suprastin.
Usually in pediatrics, the treatment of colitis is limited exclusively to conservative methods and only in very rare, neglected cases, surgical intervention is necessary. Therefore, a timely appeal to the gastroenterologist will help to protect a small patient from surgical treatment and the consequences associated with it.
Prognosis and prevention of
With timely therapy and follow-up of recommendations in the rehabilitation and recovery period, colitis is successfully cured and clinical and laboratory recovery is observed in children.
If the inflammation in a child is chronic, then with strict adherence to dietary recommendations and medicinal purposes, you can achieve a stable remission. With frequent cases of exacerbations, there is a serious violation of psychosocial adaptation of children, there are problems with physical development.
Preventive measures include observance of dietary principles in nutrition, timely treatment of intestinal infections, worms, or dysbacteriosis. Treatment of children with this diagnosis is done by a gastroenterologist of a child's profile or a pediatrician.
Prophylactic vaccination is performed after reaching a stable remission period for a sufficiently long time.
If the disease has not yet been avoided, then after the end of therapy the child needs to prevent the recurrence of inflammation of the large intestine.