Although it is believed that nonspecific ulcerative colitis is mostly susceptible to people after 20 years of age, in recent years, this disease has manifested itself in children. As the statistical data show, this chronic dystrophic colon disease and in very young patients began to occur more often.
Even the cases of its diagnosis in infants have been noted. And both girls and boys suffer from it to an equal degree, only the first it overtakes in adolescence, and the latter are susceptible to it from the moment of birth.
Pathological anatomy of ulcerative colitis in children
The changes that occur in the large intestine with this inflammatory disease of the digestive organ are very diverse. They can be expressed as in a slight hyperemia with a slight bleeding of the mucosa, and in sufficiently deep ulcers that penetrate almost to the serous layer. Usually, with nonspecific colitis, the left half of the large intestine is most affected.
In children, pathological changes in this disease have some characteristics different from those observed in adult patients. Firstly, this is what the total lesion in the large intestine is observed much less often. And secondly, it should be noted that the rectum of small patients is usually intact( not subject to the process of formation of inflammatory defects).
But, although this is observed in more than half of cases, nevertheless, sometimes in children the development of pathologies on the mucosa of this digestive organ is revealed, especially in the region of the anal opening. Specialists tend to regard this phenomenon as a secondary sign of ulcerative colitis, which appears due to constant irritation with the toxic contents of the overlying parts of the intestine.
The causes of this disease are still not fully understood, but experts are inclined to believe that in children, ulcerative colitis can result from the transfer of diseases such as dysbacteriosis or dysentery, and also because of intestinal damage caused by helminths.
Symptoms of nonspecific ulcerative colitis in children
The manifestations of this inflammatory disease in small patients can be in different variations:
- Pain in the stomach or stomach colic;
- Diarrhea accompanied by bleeding from the anus;
- Decreased appetite and weight loss.
Babies with symptoms of ulcerative colitis will have frequent regurgitation, flatulence and stool disorders. Also, parents in the feces of the newborn can detect bloody, mucous or purulent inclusions. The body temperature in this pathology in children is almost always increased.
Vomiting often occurs, which is fraught with rapid dehydration for the infants. She, as well as abundant diarrhea, manifests in newborns such external features, as pointed features, exhausted appearance, dryness and pallor of mucous membranes and skin.
Even the manifestation of one or two symptoms of ulcerative colitis in children requires immediate attention to a specialist for the passage of diagnostic studies and the appointment of adequate treatment. If everything is done in a timely manner, then the prognosis of ulcerative colitis in a newborn will be much more favorable than for an adult.
Treatment of ulcerative colitis in children consists in the appointment of a diet, the menu for which is made only by a specialist, taking into account many factors. Also, medicinal treatment with antibiotics and antispasmodics will be mandatory. From parents of small patients, strict adherence to all medical recommendations is required. Only in this case, the full recovery of the baby is possible.