Gastroenterology Flashcards
What vitamin supplements should children receive?
Vitamins A, C and D and iron
What are WHO guidelines on infant feeding?
Breast feeding for 6 months
First feed within 1 hour of birth
What are the pros and cons of breastfeeding?
Pros
- reduces GI infection and NEC
- enhances relationship
- reduces risk of insulin dependent diabetes, hypertension and obesity
- reduces breast cancer risk in mother
Cons
- unknown quantity fed
- transmission of diseases and drugs
- nutrient inadequacies
- risk of breast-milk jaundice
What foods should be avoided before 6 months?
Wheat Eggs Fish Salt Sugar Honey
What is normal formula based on?
Formulas are based on cows milk but with more iron and vitamins and less protein and electrolytes
What is specialised formula used for?
Cow's milk protein allergy Lactose intolerance CF Neonatal cholestatic liver disease Post intestinal resection
What are the components of specialised formula?
Protein - hydrolysed cow’s milk protein, amino acids or from soya
Carbohydrate - glucose polymer (normally lactose)
Fat - medium and long chain triglycerides (don’t need bile or pancreatic enzymes)
What is hydrolysed formula?
Cow’s milk with milk proteins and lactose broken down to be easier to digest
Partial hydrolysates contain larger proportion of long chains but are only intended for prophylactic use if FH of allergy
What is the normal stool pattern in children?
Infant - 4/day
1yo - 2/day
4yo - adult routine
What causes constipation?
Hirschsprung’s
Hypothyroidism
Hypercalcaemia
Anorectal abnormalities
Dehydration
Anal fissure
What are red flag symptoms of constipation?
- Failure to pass meconium within 24 hours - Hirschsprung’s
- Failure to thrive - hypothyroidism, celiac disease
- Abdominal distension - Hirschsprung’s, GI dysmotility
- Abnormal lower limb motility - lumbosacral pathology
- Sacral dimple/naevus, hairy pathc, discoloured skin over spine - spina bifida occulta
- Perianal bruising/multiple fissures - sexual abuse
How is constipation treated?
Mild laxatives - polyethylene glycol (movicol)
Stimulate laxatives - senna or picosulphate
Osmotic laxatives - lactulose
Enema or manual evacuation
How is failure to thrive diagnosed?
Mild = fall across 2 centiles Severe = fall across 3 centiles
Catch down weight = baby born at normal weight but drops down to genetically determined weight
Non-organic
- feeding problems
- lack of food or irregular feeding times
- maternal depression, abuse or low education
Organic
- impaired suck/swallow
- Crohn’s, chronic renal or liver disease, CF
Inadequate retention
- vomiting
- severe GOR
Malabsorption
- coeliac disease
- CF
- short gut syndrome
- NEC
- cholestatic liver disease
Failure to utilise nutrients
- Down’s syndrome
- IUGR
- prematurity
- infection
Increased requirements
- thyrotoxicosis
- CF
- malignancy
- chronic infection
- congenital heart disease
- chronic renal failure
What virus commonly causes gastroenteritis?
Rotavirus
What children are at risk of dehydration?
- children
What are red flag signs of dehydration?
- altered responsiveness
- sunken eyes
- tachycardia
- tachypnoea
- reduced skin turgor
How is dehydration treated?
Clinical dehydration (5-10%)
- fluid deficit replacement (50ml/kg) over 4hrs + maintenance fluid
- ORS often and small amounts
- ORS via NG tube
Shock (>10%)
- 0.9% sodium chloride rapid infusion
- fluid deficit replacement (100ml/kg) over 4hrs + maintenance fluid
- monitor electrolytes + potassium IV
What medicines are used in gastroenteritis?
No anti-diarrhoeal or anti-emetics
Abx if suspect: septicaemia, salmonella,
What is post-gastroenteritis syndrome?
Normal diet –> watery diarrhoea
Temporary lactose intolerance can be confirmed by presence of non-absorbed sugar in stools - +ve Clinitest
ORS for 24hrs then normal diet
What is gastro-oesophagealo reflux?
Involuntary passage of gastric contents into oesophagus
Common in infancy caused by inappropriate relaxation of the lower oesophageal sphincter as a result of functional immaturity
What is the natural course of GOR?
Predominantly fluid diet,
horizontal posture, short intra-abdominal length of oesophagus all
contribute
By 12 months nearly all the symptoms will have spontaneously resolved.
Due to a combination of maturation of the lower oesophageal
sphincter, assumption of an upright posture and more solids in the diet.
How is gastro-oesophageal reflux treated?
Uncomplicated - parental reassurance, adding inert thickening agents
to feeds, positioning in a 30 degree head-up position after
feeds
Drugs - ranitidine or omeprazole to reduce volume of gastric contents
Surgery - Nissen fundoplication (fundus wrapped around oesphagus)
What are complications of gastro-oesophageal reflux?
- failure to thrive from severe vomiting
- oesophagitis - haematemesis, feeding discomfort, heartburn, iron deficiency anaemia
- pulmonary aspiration
- SIDS
- Barret’s oesophagus - cells change from squamous to columnar -> cancer
What causes unconjugated jaundice?
- breast milk jaundice
- infection
- haemolytic anaemia
- hypothyroidism
- Criger-Najjar syndrome
What causes conjugated jaundice?
- bile duct obstruction - biliary atresia/choledochal cyst
- neonatal hepatitis syndrome - CF, alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, congential infection
- intrahepatic biliary hypoplasia
What causes jaundice
Haemolytic disorders:
- rhesus haemolytic disease
- ABO incompatibilty
- spherocytosis
- G6PD deficiency
Congenital infection
What causes jaundice 2 days-2 weeks?
Physiological jaundice
- change from fetal to neonatal haemoglobin
Breast milk jaundice
- increased enterohepatic circulation (unconjugated)
Dehydration
Infection
- unconjugated hyperbilirubinaemia from poor fluid intake, haemolysis and reduced hepatic function
What causes jaundice >2 weeks?
If conjugated - biliary atresia (dark urine and pale stools)
What is biliary atresia and how does it present?
Progressive disease with destruction or absence of extrahepatic biliary tree and intrahepatic biliary ducts
–> chronic liver failure + death
Normal birthweight but fail to thrive with hepatomegaly and splenomegaly
How is biliary atresia investigated?
Abdo ultrasound - contracted or absent gallbladder
Radioisotope scan - good uptake by liver but no excretion into bowel
Cholangiography - done during laparotomy and fails to outline normal biliary tree
What is coeliac disease?
Gluten component provokes a damaging immunological response in proximal small intestinal mucosa
Villi become progressively shorter then absent –> flat mucosa
How does coeliac disease present?
8-24 months after introduction of wheat products
Failure to thrive Abdominal distension Buttock wasting Abnormal stools Irritability D+V Fatigue Iron defiency anaemia
What conditions increase the risk of coeliac disease?
Autoimmune thyroid disease IBS Dermatitis herpetiformis Type 1 DM FH Down's syndrome
How is coeliac disease diagnosed?
Serological screening of at risk children and children with symptoms
Small intestinal biopsy - mucosal changes (increased lymphocytes and villous atrophy/crypt hypertrophy)
What is colic?
Paroxysmal crying
Drawing up of knees
Passage of excessive flatus
Occurs in first few weeks and resolves by 4 months