With the advent of a child in the house, his parents are faced with the need for regular visits to the pediatrician and passing a lot of tests. Tests such as donating blood or urine, as a rule, do not cause unnecessary questions and difficulties. And if you need to pass an analysis called a coprogram? What is it and how to take it? Let's look into this issue.
Coprogram - what is it?
Coprogram is nothing more than an analysis of feces, which includes the study of its physical and chemical properties, microscopic analysis. The study of feces is extremely important in case of diseases of the digestive system, as well as for the diagnosis of their work. Feces are the final product and result of the digestive system. Its formation occurs gradually, as food moves through the digestive organs. That is why one or another indicator of the coprogram may indicate an insufficiently effective work of individual elements of the chain. The stool itself is made up ofa large number of bacteria, small undigested food residues, mucus, individual pigments that give it color.
How to collect material for analysis
Collecting feces for analysis has several nuances, especially if there is a baby coprogram. It is necessary to purchase in advance at the pharmacy a special sterile container with a spoon, which is used to collect feces. The analysis will not be reliable if the defecation was caused by medication or the child has taken any medication in the last 24 hours. At the same time, morning feces will give the most reliable results, but on condition that it is delivered to the laboratory within two hours from the moment of emptying. It must be remembered that it is impossible to collect feces by directly peeling off the diaper, since in this case particles of material can enter the container and significantly distort the final result. Also, do not scrape feces from the body of the baby, because in this case, particles of the epithelium may get into the analysis.
Transcription of analysis
So, we passed an analysis called a coprogram. What does this give us? The result of the analysis contains a lot of valuable information, which is easy to decipher, based on the normal values of the following indicators:
- Quantity - 15-20 g, single serving.
- Consistency - viscous.
- Color - yellow, possibly with splashes of green.
- Smell - a bit sour.
- Reaction is sour.
- Bilirubin, stercobilin - present.
- Proteinsoluble - not detected.
- The pH level is from 4.8 to 5.8.
- Muscle fibers, neutral fat, fatty acids, soaps, mucus, white blood cells are rare.
However, it is worth noting that these standard values are typical only for children who are fully breastfed. In the case when the child is already receiving complementary foods or is fed a mixture, the analysis of the coprogram may be slightly different. In any case, even if all indicators are normal, the result must be shown to the pediatrician for maximum interpretation.
So, we learned that the work of the digestive system can be judged on the basis of an analysis called a coprogram. What does this mean? At a minimum, it is recommended that young children undergo a similar analysis at least once every 3-5 months for the timely diagnosis of possible diseases.
