Hirschsprung's disease is a disease that was named after the scientist Harold Girpshrung, who first described him. Today, this name has become a household name and few people go into its meaning, therefore they write mostly from a small letter.
Unfortunately, Hirschsprung's disease in children is an extremely common problem that infants and preschool children have to face. Sometimes it is diagnosed in adults. Often, Hirschsprung's disease in newborn parents is written off for malnutrition, which is explained by constipation, flatulence. And this is very dangerous, because the disease is fraught with complications and even deaths are fixed.
This disease is genetic, that is, it is inherited from parents. In this case, the carriers of the gene themselves can not be sick. Most often the diagnosis of Hirschsprung's disease ends with confirmation of the assumptions about the boys. They get sick more often, and get sick right after birth. Detection of this disease in girls is a rarity.
Symptoms that should alert
The essence of Hirschsprung's disease is that in a certain area of the intestine there are no nerve endings that ensure the excretion of stool due to wave-like contractions. For this reason, digested food is not excreted, it accumulates in the intestine. This, of course, is the cause of stretching of the intestinal wall. The main symptoms of Hirschsprung's disease in children are chronic constipation, alternating with diarrhea, flatulence, vomiting, and pain. The child quickly forms the so-called frog stomach. The swollen bowel is seen without difficulty, and if you press on the stomach, then through the flabby skin can feel the movement of the bowel. If any of these symptoms are found, treatment of Hirschsprung's disease in children should begin immediately. If this is not done as soon as possible, the overall condition of the baby will deteriorate sharply. The child will quickly lose weight, become apathetic, irritable. In the future, there may be a mental lag, the development of mental uncorrected problems.
Methods and effectiveness of treatment
Before the doctor prescribes the child a treatment regimen, it is necessary to accurately diagnose the disease. Because Hirschsprung's disease has a genetic nature and is inherited, then as a method of laboratory research, histology is used, that is, the study of cells and tissues on the affected area. Parents should prepare for the baby to have a biopsy. In the intestines, doctors will introduce a special probe. The needle at its end will allow us to pinch off a microscopic piece of intestinal mucosa. In case the diagnosis is confirmed, the baby expects a long and complicated treatment process. You can do without a biopsy. To confirm the assumptions, an x-ray of swollen
Correction of Hirschsprung's disease can be carried out conservatively, but this approach will not solve the problem once and for all. To improve the general condition of the child, doctors advise combining treatment with massage, physiotherapy, mechanical stimulation of peristalsis. It is important to follow a supporting diet, which is based on the use of plant foods, sour-milk products, meat. Be sure to save the child's diet from gas-producing products. If it is a child with breastfeeding, then all these rules must be observed by the mother.
Unfortunately, only the operation with Hirschsprung's disease will help to remove the diagnosis, during which the affected area will be removed from the intestine.