Gastroenterology and paeds surgery Flashcards
What is the presentation of constipation in children?
(reduced freq of stool compared to normal)
- < 3 stools a week
- Hard stools, rabbit dropping, difficult and painful to pass
- Abdo pain, can palpate stool in abdo
- Retentive posturing - standing/sitting w straight stiff legs, voluntarily holding in stool
- Rectal bleeding
- Faecal impaction = overflow soiling
- Encopresis
What is encopresis?
- Faecal incontinence, not pathological until 4 years old
- Sign of chronic constipation = rectum becomes stretched and looses sensation
- Large hard stools remaain in rectum and loose stools leak out = soiling
- Other causes - Hirschprung’s, ID, cerebral palsy, stress and abuse
What are lifestyle factors contributing to constipation?
- Habitually not opening bowels
- Low fibre diet
- Poor fluid intake and dehydration
- Sedentary lifestyle
- Psychosocial probs - difficult home or school environment
What are secondary causes of constipation?
- Hirschsprung’s
- Cystic fibrosis, esp meconium ileus
- Hypothyroidism, hypocalcaemia, coeliac disease
- Spinal cord lesions
- Sexual abuse
- Intestinal obstruction
- Anal stenosis
- Cows milk intolerance
What are the red flags in constipation?
- Not passing meconium w/i 48 hours of birth = CF or Hirschsprung’s
- Neuro signs, esp in lower limbs
- Vomiting - bowel obstruction and Hirschsprung’s
- Ribbon stool - anal stenosis
- Abnormal anus = IBD, anal stenosis, sexual abuse
- Abnormal lower back or buttocks - spina bifida, sacral agenesis
- Failure to thrive - Coeliac, hypothyroid
- Acute severe abdo pain and bloat - obstruction or intussusception
What are some complications of constipation?
- Pain
- Reduced sensation
- Anal fissures
- Overflow and soiling
- Psychosocial morbidity
What is the management of idiopathic constipation?
- Correct reversible factors - high fibre diet and good hydration
- Start laxatives - movicol 1st line - long term and slowly weaned off
- Faecal impaction = disimpaction regimen w high doses of laxatives - at first osmotic laxative, then stimulant if not tolerated
- Encourage and praise visiting the toilet - scheduling visits, bowel diary and star charts
How do you diagnose Hirschsprung’s disease?
- Usually presents w delay in meconium and failure to thrive so normally in 1st month but can present late rarely
- Rectal biopsy = gold standard
- Barium enema
What is Coeliac disease?
Autoimmune condition where gluten exposure causes inflam of small bowel, esp jejunum due to autoab attacking epithelial cells. Causes atrophy of intestinal villi = malabsorption of nutrients and disease related sx.
What are the ab and genetic associations in Coeliac disease?
Anti TTG and anti EMA - increase w more active disease and disappear w effective treatment
HLA-DQ2 and HLA-DQ8 (don’t know if need to know)
Always test new T1DM diagnosis for coeliac disease even if don’t have sx.
What is the presentation of coeliac disease?
- Can be asymptomatic
- Failure to thrive in young children
- Diarrhoea or steatorrhoea
- Fatigue, weight loss, mouth ulcers
- Secondary iron, B12 or folate deficiency anaemia
- Dermatitis herpetiformis - itchy blistery skin on abdo
- Abdo distension, short statue and wasted buttocks
What neurological sx can coeliac disease present with?
- Peripheral neuropathy
- Cerebellar ataxia
- Epilepsy
What are the ix into Coeliac disease?
- Need to still be on gluten inclusive diet while ix
- Basic bloods - FBC, U+E, LFT, iron, B12, folate
- Total immunoglobulin A levels to exclude IgA def
- Check for ab - serology
- OGD and intestinal biopsy - crypt hypertrophy, villous atrophy, intra epithelial lymphocytes
What are the complications of coeliac disease?
- Vit deficiency, anaemia, OP
- Ulcerative jejunitis
- Enteropathy associated T cell lymphoma of the intestine EATL
- Non Hodgkin lymphoma
- Small bowel adenocarcinoma but rare
- Hyposplenism
What is the treatment of coeliac disease?
Life long GF diet
What is the presentation of GORD in children?
- Chronic cough/hoarse cry
- Distress, crying or unsettled after feeding - normal for babies to have some reflux after larger feeds but is a problem when they are distressed
- Reluctance to feed
- Pneumonia
- Poor weight gain
- Retrosternal or epigastric pain may be reported
What are some differentials for vomiting in children?
- Overfeeding
- GORD
- Pyloric stenosis - projective vomiting
- Gastritis and gastroenteritis
- Appendicitis
- Infections - UTI, tonsilitis, meningitis
- Intestinal obstruction
- Bulimia
- Upper GI bleed
- Raised ICP
What are some red flags for vomiting?
- Not keeping down feed or forceful vom - pyloric stenosis or bowel obstruction
- Bile stained vomit - bowel obstruction
- Haematemesis or malaena
- Abdo distension
- Reduced conc, bulging fontanelle, neuro signs - raised ICP or meningitis
- Resp sx - aspiration pneumonia
- Blood in stools - gastro or cows milk allergy
- Signs of infection
- Rash, angioedema
- Apnoea - v concerning
What is apnoea?
Muscles and soft tissues of throat collapse causing total blockage of the airway for more than 10 secs
What is the management of GORD?
Simple - small freq meals, burp reg, don’t over feed, keep baby upright after feeding
Problematic - gaviscon mixed w water after feeds for a 2 week trial, thickened milk or formula, PPI when doesn’t work gaviscon doesn’t work
Severe - need to ix further = barium meal and endoscopy, surgical fundoplication
What are some complications of GORD in children?
- Reflux oesophagitis
- Recurrent aspiration pneumonia
- Recurrent acute otitis media
- Dental erosion
- Apnoea
- Apparent life threatening events
What is Sandifer’s syndrome?
Brief eps of abnormal movements associated w GORD:
- Torticollis - forceful contraction of neck muscles = neck twisting
- Dystonia - arching of back or unusual posture
Resolves as reflux improves.
What are some medical differentials for abdo pain in children?
- Constipation
- UTI
- Coeliac disease
- IBD and IBS
- Mesenteric adenitis
- Abdo migraine
- Pyelonephritis
- Henoch Schonlein purpura
- Tonsilitis
- Diabetic ketoacidosis
- Infantile colic
What are some surgical differentials for abdo pain?
- Appendicitis
- Intussusception
- Bowel obstruction
- Testicular torsion
- Ectopic
- Ovarian torsion and cyst rupture
- Meckel’s diverticulitis
- Pancreatitis
- Mesenteric adenitis
What are red flags for abdo pain?
- Persistent or bilious vom
- Severe chronic diarrhoea
- Fever
- Rectal bleeding
- Weight loss or faltering growth
- Dysphagia
- Nighttime pain
- Abdo tenderness
What is recurrent abdo pain?
Repeated episodes of abdo pain w/o a cause - non organic/functional. Overlaps w functional abdo pain and IBS.
Often corresponds to stressful life events eg. bereavement of bullying.
What is the management for functional GI disorders?
- Explanation and reassurance
- Distraction from pain and don’t ask about it
- Sleep, reg meals, healthy balanced diet, stay hydrated, exercise, reduce stress
- Probiotic supplements
- Avoid NSAIDs
- Address psychosocial triggers and support
What is abdo migraine?
Central abdo pain lasting >1 hour w normal examination, can get associated N+V, anorexia, pallor, headache, photophobia, aura
What is the management of abdo migraine?
Treat acute attack - low stimulus environment, paracetamol, ibuprofen, sumatriptan
Preventative - pizotifen, propanolol, cyproheptadine, flunarazine
What are the features of Crohn’s?
crows NESTS
No blood or mucus (less common in Crohns)
Entire GI tract
Skip lesions
Terminal ileum most affect and transmural inflam
Smoking = RF
+ weight loss, strictures, fistulas
What are the features of UC?
CLOSEUP
Cont inflam
Limited to colon and rectum
Only superficial mucosa affected
Smoking is protective
Excrete blood and mucus
Use aminosalicylates
Primary sclerosing cholangitis
When should you suspect IBD in children?
Perfuse diarrhoea, abdo pain, bleed, weight loss, anaemia
Systemically unwell in flares - fevers, malaise, dehydration
What are the extra intestinal manifestations of IBD?
- Finger clubbing
- Erythema nodosum
- Pyoderma gangrenosum
- Episcleritis and iritis
- Inflam arthritis
- Primary sclerosing cholangitis
What are the ix into IBD?
- Bloods - FBC for anaemia, LFTs for albumin, CRP for inflam
- Faecal calprotectin and stool sample for infective cause
- Colonoscopy = gold standard, take biopsies to confirm diagnosis
- CTAP if bowel obstruction or perforation for Crohn’s or toxic megacolon for UC
- MRI can be used to assess disease severity eg. fistulae, abscesses, stricutres
What is the management of Crohn’s?
Induce remission - steroids eg. oral pred or IV hydrocortisone, immunosuppressant = azathioprine, methotrexate, adalimumab, infliximab
Maintenance - 1st line = azathioprine, alt = methotrexate, infliximab or adalimumab
Surgery - ileocaecal resection, small or large bowel resection, surgery for peri anal disease, stricturoplasty, can have anastomosis or have stoma
What is the management of UC?
Induce remission - 1st line = aminosalicylate, 2nd line = prednisolone, severe disease = IV hydrocortisone 1st line, 2nd line = IV ciclosporin
Maintenance - aminosalicylate eg. mesalazine, azathioprine
Surgery - panproctocolectomy = ileostomy or J pouch
What is pyloric stenosis?
Hypertrophy and narrowing of the pylorus, stomach = peristalsis to try and push food into duodenum, eventually food pushed into oesophagus = projective vomiting
What are the CF of pyloric stenosis?
- Failure to thrive, thin and pale baby in first few weeks of life
- Projectile vomiting
- Can see peristalsis after feeding
- Mass in upper abdomen = hypertrophic pylorus
What are the ABG features in pyloric stenosis?
Hypochloric metabolic alkalosis - vomiting HCl acid from the stomach, can also get hypokalaemia
What are the ix into pyloric stenosis and how is it managed?
IX - abdo US to see thickened pylorus
Treat - laparoscopic pyloromyotomy/Ramstedt’s operation = incision to open pylorus muscle
What is biliary atresia?
Bile duct narrowed or absent = cholestasis = conjugated bilirubin can’t be excreted
What is the presentation of biliary atresia?
Significant prolonged jaundice due to high conjugated bilirubin levels. Suspect if lasts >14 days in term babies/>21 days in premature babies.
Steatorrhoea - pale stool or yellow stool.
Jaundice can be normal in neonate but biliary atresia is serious so needs to be excluded by measuring conjugated bilirubin level.
What is the management of biliary atresia? What happens if you don’t treat?
Kasai portoenterostomy = attach section of the small intestine to the opening of the liver where the bile duct normally attaches, not always successful.
Often pt need full liver transplant for full recognition.
Untreated = cirrhosis w/i 6 months and liver failure w/i 1 year.
Epididymitis vs orchitis
Epididymitis - inflam of epididymis (sperm stored) and orchitis - inflam of testes
What are RF of epidiymo-orchitis?
Non enteric causes - MSM, multiple sexual partners, gonorrhoea
Enteric - recent instrumentation or catheterisation, bladder outlet obstruction, immunocompromised