Acute pancreatitis is an inflammation of the pancreas. In most cases, it occurs in adults, when the disease occurs in children, less pronounced symptoms are observed. But if the diagnosis is not made in time, then this can cause severe complications due to acute pancreatitis. At what age the disease can occur, its causes, symptoms and adequate treatment - this is described in the article.
Disease types
Most often, gastroenterologists distinguish two forms of acute disease:
- Interstitial (edematous-serous) - this form is more common in children, it responds well to medical treatment and the risk of complications with it is minimal. Children rarely have a fever.
- Destructive (pancronecrosis) - it is diagnosed in children much less often, but if it is detected, it is necessary to urgently go to the hospital for emergency medical care. In rare cases, it is even necessary to resuscitate patients. If you do not contactexperts, the child may simply not withstand such a strong poisoning of the body. The percentage of mortality in pancronecryosis reaches 70%. In most cases, pancronecrosis is a complication of interstitial inflammation. It is for this reason that when the first symptoms appear, it is urgent to go to the hospital for the help of doctors.
Interstitial shape
The first signs of the disease are severe pain located in the upper abdomen. Often such pains are acute and intensify with probing. It can last for attacks with a gradually increasing frequency of manifestation and pain. The pain is greatly aggravated in the supine position. There are several other signs of illness:
- Heaviness in the stomach.
- Bloating.
- Persistent nausea with occasional bouts of vomiting that does not provide relief.
- General weakness of the body, blanching of the skin.
- High heart rate.
Destructive form
Symptoms of acute pancreatitis in a child of a destructive form will be as follows:
- Constant persistent pain in the left side of the abdomen. Often such pains are called spinal pains, because it seems to the patient that the pain is localized in the back.
- Very frequent vomiting.
- Bloating and hardness in the abdomen.
- Severe fever, often the body temperature rises to abnormal levels (40 degrees). If no action is taken toeliminate this symptom, the child may break down and burn out.
- Yellow sclera (yellowing of the whites of the eyes). This is a very serious symptom, indicating severe damage to the internal organs, liver, pancreas, gallbladder. It can also indicate hepatitis, cancer, and other infectious diseases.
- Severe deterioration in the general condition of the body, dizziness, pain in the head, even fainting is possible.
- Easy superficial pulse.
What to do with acute pancreatitis in a child?
If you find any of the symptoms, you must immediately call an ambulance. Let the call turn out to be false rather than put the life and he alth of the child at risk.
Three most important assistants before the doctors arrive:
- cold,
- hunger,
- peace.
It is necessary to completely refuse to take food and water. The use of any food further irritates the already damaged walls of the pancreas. As a result, pain will increase significantly.
To reduce the pain and inflammation effect, it is necessary to attach something cold to the place of pain. For example, ice wrapped in polyethylene, or, for example, a bag of vegetables lying in the freezer.
It is strictly forbidden to take any medications, including painkillers. They will muffle the pain, but make the diagnostic process more difficult. After arrival and examination, the doctor himself will give the patient the necessary drugs.
Also nothospitalization should be avoided. Diseases of the abdominal cavity are very deceptive, and even if the child gets better, this does not mean that the disease has passed, on the contrary, after a certain time it will manifest itself again, but with greater force and with worse consequences.
The emergency doctor is obliged to give the baby painkillers and antispasmodics. They help relieve spasm from the smooth muscles of the internal organs and contribute to the removal of pancreatic juice from the gland. Also, the doctor should try to remove the remnants of the contents of the stomach through the tube to prevent the release of gastric juice.
Causes of appearance in children
The most common causes of illness in children:
- Wrong diet. The child's menu contains a large amount of fatty or sweet food.
- Infections of various kinds. Chickenpox, influenza, pseudotuberculosis, salmonellosis, dysentery, enterovirus, herpes, hepatitis mumps, rubella and other infectious diseases.
- Injuries to the pancreas, including blows to the abdomen, falls.
- Hypercalcemia is an increased amount of calcium in the blood. Most often, this congenital disease can be manifested by mental retardation and the presence of heart disease in the patient. Often the cause of the disease can be the use of vitamin D in large quantities.
- Pathologies of the digestive tract or liver.
- Toxic or medical injury. Taking the wrong drugs or eating toxic substances.
- Diseases that damage the pancreatic stream.
- Tumor of the pancreas.
Diagnosis of acute pancreatitis
The first sign of acute pancreatitis is severe abdominal pain. Therefore, diagnosis is carried out by discarding diseases with inappropriate symptoms. First of all, with similar symptoms, doctors exclude such diseases as acute cholecystitis, acute appendicitis, intestinal obstruction, exacerbation of peptic ulcer (very rare in children, more often diagnosed in adolescents).
Acute pancreatitis is diagnosed using the following laboratory tests:
- Complete blood count (checking for an increased number of white blood cells).
- Common fecal analysis (checked for undigested food particles)
- Blood biochemistry (used to detect an increased amount of amylase enzymes, as well as analyze blood glucose levels).
- Ultrasound of the abdomen (used to diagnose disorders of the abdominal cavity, the presence of peptic ulcer, the liver, pancreas, spleen, kidneys and adrenal glands are checked for the presence of neoplasms and tumors, as well as the general condition of the organs).
- Computed tomography (allows you to determine the degree of damage to the pancreas).
- X-ray (performed to detect problems in the robot: stomach, kidneys, liver, intestines, spleen and diaphragm). With correct diagnosis, at least two pictures are taken from different angles.
Diagnostics should be carried out only in a hospital and under supervisiongastroenterologist. When determining acute pancreatitis, it is very important to immediately determine its form. This is very important for further treatment and choice of prevention method.
Treatment
Treatment of acute pancreatitis in a child should take place only in a hospital and under the supervision of a gastroenterologist. The appointment of treatment is carried out on a strictly individual basis, and all due to the fact that for a complete recovery it is necessary to take a whole range of drugs and carry out numerous procedures.
In each case, anti-enzyme therapy is mandatory, which stops the destructive processes in the pancreas.
During the treatment of acute pancreatitis in a child, the patient is prescribed bed rest and diet. It is strictly forbidden to eat fried foods, as well as foods high in fat, because the sick body is simply unable to cope with it. In the first three days, the doctor may prescribe fasting, during this time the patient is forbidden to eat any food other than water. This is necessary in order for the damaged cells of the pancreas to begin their recovery. To ensure the body receives the necessary vitamins and minerals, the patient is given them intravenously.
For continuous monitoring of hemodynamic parameters and, if necessary, urgent treatment of complications, the patient is placed in the intensive care unit. In acute pancreatitis in children, only a gastroenterologist can prescribe treatment and dosage of drugs, because sometimesthere is an individual intolerance to the components. And in this case, side effects and the appearance of concomitant diseases may occur.
If a patient has a severe or even advanced form, the doctor may decide on an urgent surgical intervention. During the operation, the laparoscopy method is most often used, followed by the installation of drainage tubes, which are necessary to drain any fluid or blood. As a rule, the drainage tubes are removed within a period of one to seven days. It all depends on the amount of fluid being drained, but there are times when the drainage tubes are removed immediately after the operation.
After the operation, the patient is required to be prescribed drugs that block inflammatory processes, most often antibiotics. Doctors may also prescribe dehydration therapy as needed. This is a procedure by which excess water is removed from the body by taking medications. The most commonly used diuretic drugs.
What to use?
To ensure a speedy recovery, the patient is prescribed a course of replacement therapy with enzyme preparations, which are designed for a long course of treatment. In addition, the doctor may prescribe (as an additional) the following types of drugs:
- Hormones.
- Metabolite complex of drugs.
- Sedatives.
- Cholagogue.
When pain attacks, especially in the first days of treatment, the child is given drugs that eliminate pain and spasms. ForThis is best suited for such drugs for acute pancreatitis as analgesics and antispasmodics:
- "No-shpa";
- "Baralgin";
- "Promedol".
In most cases, with acute pancreatitis, there is an increased synthesis of enzymes, for their settlement, children are prescribed the following drugs:
- "Famotidine";
- "Pirenzepine";
- "Ranitidine".
Antacids are also an integral part of the treatment - drugs for acute pancreatitis that help reduce hydrochloric acid. These funds include: "Almagel", "Malyuks" and others.
To successfully eliminate acute pancreatitis, it is imperative to contact specialists and adhere to an integrated approach to treatment. Sometimes this requires spending a long time in the hospital in order to avoid complications. As already noted, only a doctor prescribes treatment and dosage for acute pancreatitis in children. Self-medication is only fatal, and can also cause irreparable harm to the liver and kidneys.
Nutrition for acute pancreatitis
The question of what to eat with acute pancreatitis in a child worries many parents. After all, properly selected food will quickly calm the diseased organ.
In acute pancreatitis, the pancreas requires special nutrition. Doctors advise baking food in the oven or steaming. Forbiddeneat pork, it contains a lot of fat, so it is better to replace it with drier, but no less tasty meat: veal, beef, chicken, turkey or rabbit. Fish is best cooked either steamed or boiled. When choosing fish, you should also pay attention to low-fat varieties, for example: pike perch, bream, cod, pike, saffron cod or carp. When choosing dairy products, it is better to opt for non-acidic options: kefir, yogurt, cottage cheese, acidophilus. Cheese is better to choose mild varieties, for example, Dutch or Yaroslavl. Butter or vegetable oil is best added to ready-made meals, as only in this way can you get the maximum benefit from them. Also, various kinds of cereals will be beneficial, especially oatmeal and buckwheat in the form of pureed cereals, and you can also eat pasta and noodles.
Vegetables with a disease such as acute pancreatitis in a child 2 years old and older are best ground and boiled. Almost everything is suitable for vegetables: carrots, pumpkin, potatoes, zucchini, cauliflower, beets, they will only benefit your body. Bread is allowed to use only white, preferably dried, or crackers. Soups with any of the above cereals will also be very useful, the only thing that is not recommended is cooking soup with cabbage and hot spices.
Also, you can eat any non-acidic fruits, apples are best peeled, and the most useful way to prepare fruits is baking or mashing. You can also eat dried fruits, prepare compotes, jellies and non-acidic juices.
For your own goodit is best to exclude from the diet: fatty meats, dumplings, dumplings, smoked meats, sausages and spicy cheeses. Including it is better to refuse to use: chicken, meat, mushroom broths, fatty sour cream, eggs, pork and lamb fat, legumes, white cabbage, radishes and sorrel. Acidic juices and fruits, sweets, pickles, marinades, spices, peppers and spicy seasonings will also have a negative effect. Fast food is strictly prohibited.
Of course, a lot of tasty things are forbidden to eat, but many recipes allow you to cook real masterpieces of the culinary world from permitted products. Yes, and a he althy diet will benefit not only the pancreas, but the whole body as a whole. As you can see, nutrition in acute pancreatitis in a child of 10 years old (and not only) is quite diverse. After all, many dishes can be prepared from the presented products.
Prevention of acute pancreatitis
When cholecystitis and cholelithiasis are detected, in no case should they be left to chance. It is precisely these ailments that can become the starting point of pancreatitis. Try to avoid stressful situations. Watch your child's nutrition, do not let him overeat. Try to give your child not very cold, but not hot food, it should be of medium temperature. Make portions smaller, but feed more often, the best option is six meals a day. Also explain to your child that food should be chewed well, then it will be much easier for the stomach to digest it. Add foods to your dieta large number of vitamins: A, C, B1, B2, B12, PP and K. It is also important to do physical exercises, exercise, play sports. Physical activity speeds up metabolism and the process of digestion of food.
Acute pancreatitis is a serious disease that requires serious and long-term medical treatment, and in rare cases even surgery. At the first symptoms, do not delay, but immediately seek help from doctors. In advanced stages, acute pancreatitis is incurable. In especially difficult situations, even deaths occur.
Try to take care of your child. Do not give him reasons for stress, go in for sports. Try to accustom him to proper nutrition and a he althy lifestyle. Appreciate, love and protect your children, because they are the most precious thing we have.
