Internal Medicine

Constipation in children

Synonyms

Sluggish bowel, sluggish digestion, constipation

Medical: Constipation

English = constipation, constipation

Also read:

constipation
Diet for constipation
Therapy for constipation
Home remedies for constipation

Classification constipation in children

With children one can constipation have different causes:

nutrition, Food intolerance
psyche
Mechanical obstacle = mechanical ileus (Intestinal obstruction)
Nerve disorders (Innervation disorder)
Intestinal motility disorders

Constipation in children can be caused by poor diet with insufficient fiber and fluids. A food intolerance, change in diet or change in the environment can also result in constipation. In a way, the child's psyche also plays a role in the latter two reasons. If the defecation is deliberately suppressed, the cause of constipation in children is also in the psyche. The children are moving out fear before emptying the stool back into the small pelvis, for example due to pain during defecation (= bowel movement). As a result, the defecation stimulus is no longer triggered, and constipation occurs in children.

The mechanical causes of constipation include several clinical pictures:

Stenoses = Narrowing of the intestinal lumen
Intestinal atresia = congenital obstruction of the intestinal lumen
Volvulus = Bowel rotation
Intussusception = Intestinal invagination
Meconium ileus = Intestinal obstruction due to constipation with the first child's chair (Meconium)

What they have in common is that they are all considered Intestinal obstruction (mechanical ileus) end.

The nerve disorders associated with constipation include diseases of the Backmarks (Meningomyelocele) or the brain.

Intestinal motility disorders are changes in the mobility of the intestine. Conditions characterized by dysmotility include:

Megacolon = Enlargement of the large intestine
Hypo- / agangliosis = Reduced innervation of the intestinal wall (among others Hirschsprung's disease
Ulcerative colitis = chronic inflammatory bowel disease with stenosis
Hypothyroidism = Hypothyroidism
Vitamin D -excess = Hypervitaminosis D

Certain drugs can also cause motility disorders, for example drugs for seizure therapy (antiepileptic / anticonvulsant drugs).

Symptoms of constipation in children

ConstipationThe constipation is accompanied by other complaints depending on the disease causing it.

In the case of mechanical ileus as the cause of the constipation, the symptoms are through stomach pain, increasing Vomit, Characterized by nausea and bloated abdomen. In addition, the children affected by constipation fall through restlessness, partly in connection with fever, on.

In children, intestinal motility disorders manifest themselves in addition to stool retention as vomiting, bloated stomach and loss of appetite. In addition, those affected do not grow sufficiently and show a disproportion between thick (bloated) Stomach and emaciated limbs (arms, legs). The sudden appearance more fluid Diarrhea can complement the clinical picture (paradoxical diarrhea).

An underactive thyroid manifests itself as a developmental disorder in addition to constipation.

Vitamin D excess as a cause of constipation is also caused by stunted growth and also by stomach pain such as Vomit marked.