Acute pancreatitis is an inflammation of the pancreas. In most cases, it occurs in adults, with the onset of the disease in children, less pronounced symptoms are observed. But if the diagnosis is not made on time, then this can cause severe complications due to acute pancreatitis. At what age a disease can occur, its causes, symptoms and adequate treatment - this is described in the article.
Types of disease
Most often, gastroenterologists distinguish two forms of acute disease:
- Interstitial (edematous-serous) - most often this form is found in children, it lends itself well to medical treatment and the risk of complications with it is minimal. In children, an increase in temperature is rarely observed.
- Destructive (pancreatic necrosis) - it is diagnosed in children much less often, but when it is detected, it is urgent to go to the hospital to provide emergency medical care. In rare cases, even resuscitation of patients is necessary. If you do not go to specialists, then the child may simply not withstand such severe poisoning of the body. The mortality rate for pancreatic necrosis reaches 70%. In most cases, pancreatic necrosis is a complication of interstitial inflammation. For this reason, when the first symptoms are manifested, it is urgent to contact the hospital for the help of doctors.
Interstitial form
The first signs of the disease are severe pains located in the upper abdomen. Often, such pains are acute and intensify with palpation. It can last with attacks with a gradually increasing frequency of manifestation and pain. The pain is much worse when lying on your back. There are several more signs of the disease:
- Heaviness in the stomach.
- Swollen abdomen.
- Constant nausea with periodic bouts of vomiting that do not bring relief.
- General weakness of the body, blanching of the skin.
- Heart palpitations.
Destructive form
Symptoms of acute pancreatitis in a child of a destructive form will be as follows:
- Permanent 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 precisely in the back.
- A very frequent manifestation of vomiting.
- Bloating and hardness in the abdomen.
- A strong increase in temperature, often body temperature rises to abnormal values (40 degrees). If you do not take any action to eliminate this symptom, the child may not withstand and burn.
- Yellow sclera (yellowing of the whites of the eyes). This is a very serious symptom, indicating a severe damage to the internal organs, liver, pancreas, gall bladder. It may also indicate hepatitis, a malignant tumor and other infectious diseases.
- Severe deterioration of the general condition of the body, dizziness, pain in the head, even fainting are possible.
- Rapid superficial pulse.
What to do with acute pancreatitis in a child?
If any of the symptoms is detected, an ambulance team must be called in immediately. Let the call be better false than endanger the life and health of the child.
The three most important assistants before the arrival of doctors:
It is necessary to completely abandon the intake of food and water. Eating any food is even more annoying to the already damaged walls of the pancreas. As a result, pain will increase significantly.
To reduce the pain and inflammatory effect, it is necessary to apply something cold to the site of pain. For example, ice wrapped in polyethylene, or, for example, a packet of vegetables lying in a freezer.
It is strictly forbidden to take any medications, including painkillers. They will muffle pain, but will make the diagnosis process more difficult. After arrival and examination, the doctor himself will give the patient the necessary drugs.
Also, one should not refuse treatment in a hospital. Abdominal diseases are very deceiving, and even if the child feels better, this does not mean that the disease has passed, on the contrary, after a certain time it will manifest itself again, but with more power and with worse consequences.
An ambulance doctor must give the baby painkillers and antispasmodics. They help relieve spasm from the smooth muscles of the internal organs and contribute to the departure of pancreatic juice from the gland. Also, the doctor should try to remove the remaining contents of the stomach through a probe to prevent the secretion of gastric juice.
Reasons for the appearance in children
The most common causes of the disease in children:
- Improper nutrition. The child's menu contains a large amount of fatty or sweet food.
- Infections of various kinds. Chickenpox, flu, pseudotuberculosis, salmonellosis, dysentery, enterovirus, herpes, hepatitis mumps, rubella and other infectious diseases.
- Pancreas injuries, including blows to the abdomen, falling.
- Hypercalcemia is an increased content of calcium in the blood. Most often, this is a congenital disease, which can be manifested by a delay in mental development and the presence of heart disease in a patient. Often the cause of the disease can be the use of vitamin D in large quantities.
- Pathology of the digestive tract or liver.
- Toxic or medical damage. Taking the wrong drugs or eating toxic substances.
- Diseases in which pancreatic flow is damaged.
- Pancreatic tumor.
Diagnosis of acute pancreatitis
The first sign of acute pancreatitis is severe pain in the abdominal cavity. Therefore, diagnosis is carried out by discarding diseases with inappropriate symptoms. First of all, with similar symptoms, doctors exclude diseases such as acute cholecystitis, acute appendicitis, intestinal obstruction, exacerbation of peptic ulcer (very rare in children, more often diagnosed in adolescents).
Diagnosed with acute pancreatitis with the help of such laboratory tests:
- General blood test (a check is carried out for an increased amount of leukocyte levels).
- General analysis of feces (checked for the presence of undigested food particles)
- Blood biochemistry (used to detect an increased amount of amylase enzymes, as well as an analysis of blood glucose levels).
- Ultrasound of the abdomen (used to diagnose abnormalities in the abdominal cavity, the presence of peptic ulcer, the liver, pancreas, spleen, kidneys and adrenal glands are checked for neoplasms and tumors, as well as the general condition of organs).
- Computed tomography (allows you to determine the degree of damage to the pancreas).
- X-ray (performed to identify problems in the robot: stomach, kidneys, liver, intestines, spleen and diaphragm). With proper diagnosis, at least two pictures are taken from different angles.
Diagnosis should be carried out only in a hospital and under the supervision of a gastroenterologist. When determining acute pancreatitis, it is very important to immediately determine its shape. This is very important for the further appointment of treatment and the choice of a method of prevention.
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 in a strictly individual order, 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, antiferment therapy is mandatory, due to which the destructive processes in the pancreas are stopped.
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 simply can not cope with it. In the first three days, the doctor can prescribe fasting, at this time the patient is forbidden to eat any food except water. This is necessary so that damaged pancreatic cells begin their recovery. To ensure the body receives the necessary vitamins and minerals, they are administered intravenously to the patient.
For constant monitoring of hemodynamic parameters and, if necessary, urgent treatment of patient complications, they are placed in the intensive care unit. In acute pancreatitis in children, only a gastroenterologist can prescribe treatment and dosage of drugs, because sometimes there is an individual intolerance to the components. And in this case, side effects and the appearance of concomitant diseases can occur.
If a patient has a severe or even neglected form, then the doctor may decide on urgent surgical intervention. During surgery, the laparoscopy method is most often used with the subsequent installation of drainage tubes, which are necessary to drain any fluid or blood. As a rule, drainage tubes are cleaned from one to seven days. It all depends on the amount of fluid released, but there are times when the drainage tubes are removed immediately after surgery.
After the operation, it is mandatory that the patient is prescribed drugs that block inflammatory processes, most often antibiotics. If necessary, doctors can also prescribe dehydration therapy. This is a procedure due to which excess water is removed from the body by taking medications. Most often, diuretics are used.
What to apply?
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 additional) the following types of drugs:
- Hormones.
- Metabolite complex of drugs.
- Sedatives.
- Cholagogue.
With bouts of pain, especially in the early days of treatment, the child is given medications that eliminate pain and cramping. For this, such medicines for acute pancreatitis as analgesics and antispasmodics are best suited:
- No-shpa;
- "Baralgin";
- "Promedol".
In most cases, with acute pancreatitis, an increased synthesis of enzymes is observed, the following medications are prescribed for children to resolve them:
- "Famotidine";
- Pirenzepine;
- "Ranitidine."
Also an integral part of the treatment are antacids - drugs for acute pancreatitis, which help reduce hydrochloric acid. Such funds include: Almagel, Malyuks, etc.
To successfully eliminate acute pancreatitis, it is imperative to contact specialists and adhere to an integrated approach to treatment. Sometimes for this it is necessary to spend a long time in the hospital so that there are no complications. As already noted, treatment and dosage for acute pancreatitis in children is prescribed only by a doctor. Self-medication is only fatal in nature, and can also cause irreparable harm to the liver and kidneys.
Nutrition for acute pancreatitis
The question of what you can eat with acute pancreatitis for a child worries many parents. After all, properly selected food will quickly calm a diseased organ.
In acute pancreatitis, the pancreas requires special nutrition. Doctors advise baking food in the oven or steaming. It is forbidden to eat 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 common 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 dishes, since only in this way you can get the maximum benefit from them. All sorts of cereals will also benefit, especially oat and buckwheat in the form of mashed cereals, and you can also eat pasta and noodles.
Vegetables with a disease such as acute pancreatitis in a child of 2 years and older are best grinded and boiled. Almost all vegetables are suitable: carrots, pumpkin, potatoes, zucchini, cauliflower, beets, they will only benefit your body. Bread is allowed to eat 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 to cook soup with cabbage and the addition of hot seasonings.
You can also eat any non-acidic fruit, apples are best peeled, and the most useful way to cook fruit is roasting or pureeing. You can also eat dried fruits, cook compotes, jellies and non-acidic juices.
For your benefit, it is best to exclude from the diet: fatty meats, dumplings, dumplings, smoked meats, sausages and hot cheeses. Including it is better to refuse the use of: chicken, meat, mushroom broths, sour cream, eggs, pork and lamb fat, legumes, white cabbage, radish and sorrel. Sour juices and fruits, sweets, pickles, marinades, spices, peppers and hot seasonings will also have a negative effect. Fast food is strictly forbidden.
Of course, a lot of tasty food is forbidden to eat, but many recipes allow you to cook real masterpieces of the culinary world from permitted products. Yes, and a healthy diet will benefit not only the pancreas, but also the whole body. As you can see, the nutrition in acute pancreatitis in a child of 10 years (and not only) is quite diverse. After all, from the presented products you can cook many dishes.
Prevention of acute pancreatitis
If cholecystitis and cholelithiasis are detected, in no case should they be allowed to drift. It is precisely these ailments that can become the starting point of pancreatitis. Try to avoid stressful situations. Watch the nutrition of your child, do not let him overeat. Try to give your child not very cold, but not hot food, it should be of average temperature. Make smaller portions, but feed more often, the six-meal meal is the best option. Also explain to the child that food needs to be chewed well, then it will be much easier for the stomach to digest it. Add foods with a lot of vitamins to the diet: A, C, B1, B2, B12, PP and K. It is also important to do physical exercises, exercise, exercise. Exercise speeds up the metabolism and digestion process.
Acute pancreatitis is a serious disease that requires serious and long medication, and in rare cases, even surgical intervention. At the first symptoms, do not delay, but immediately seek the help of 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, do sports. Try to accustom him to proper nutrition and a healthy lifestyle. Appreciate, love and protect your children, because they are the most expensive that we have.