Gastrointestinal Flashcards
What types of vomiting can a child experience?
- Vomiting with Wretching
- Projectile vomiting
- Billous vomiting
- Effortless vomiting
What is possetting?
Small amount of regurgitated milk which often accompanies expulsion of swallowed air
How does possetting differ from regurgiation?
Regurgitation is larger volumes resulting in bigger volume losses
Why is regurgitation important whereas possetting not?
Pssetting occurs in nearly all babies, whereas regurgitation could indicate the presence of GORD
What are the phases of the vomiting reflex?
- Pre-ejection - Pallor, nausea, Tachycardia
- Ejection - Retch, Vomit
- Post-ejection - Weakness, shivering, lethargy
What are the red flags in a vomiting child?
- Bilious vomiting
- Haematemesis
- Projectile vomiting
- Coughing after paroxysmal coughing
- Abdominal tenderness/pain on movement
- Abdominal distention
- Hepatospenomegaly
- Bloody stool
- Shock/severe dehydration
- Bulging fontanelle/seizures
- Faltering Growth
What does bile stained vomit suggest?
Intestinal obstruction
What would haematemesis suggest?
- Oesophagitis
- Peptic ulcer
- Oral/nasal bleeding
What would projectile vomiting suggest?
Pyloric stenosis
What would vomiting after paroxysmal coughing suggest?
Pertussis
What would vomiting with abdominal tenderness/pain on movement suggest?
Surgical abdomen
What would vomiting with abdominal distention suggest?
Intestinal obstruction
(incl. strangulated inguinal hernia)
What would vomiting with hepatosplenomegaly suggest?
Chronic liver disease
What would vomiting with blood in the stool suggest?
- Intussuception
- Gastroenteritis - salmonella or campylobacter
What are possible causes of vomiting with severe dehydration/shock in a child?
- Pyloric stenosis
- Severe gastroenteritis
- Systemic infection - UTI, meningitis
- Diabetic ketoacidosis
What would vomiting with seizures/bulging fontanelles suggest?
Raised ICP
What would vomiting with faltering growth suggest?
- GORD
- Coeliac disease
- Other GI conditions - IBD etc
What can cause vomiting in infants?
- Pyloric stenosis
- GORD
- Feeding problems
- Infection - gastroenteritis, respiratory, pertussis, UTI, Meningitis
- Dietary Protein Intolerance
- Intestinal obstruction
- Inborn metabolic problems
- Renal failure
- Congenital adrenal hyperplasia
What can cause intestinal obstruction in infants?
- Pyloric stenosis
- Duodenal atresia
- Intussuception
- Malrotation
- Volvulus
- Strangulated inguinal hernia
- Hirschprungs disease
What can cause vomiting in pre-school children?
- Gastroenteritis
- Infection - resp tract, otitis media, UTI, pertussis, meningitis
- Appendicitis
- Intestinal obstruction
- Raised ICP
- Coeliac disease
- Renal failure
- Inborn errors of metabolism
- Torsion of the testis
What can cause intestinal obstruction in pre-school children?
- Intusucception
- Malrotation
- Volvulus
- Adhesions
- Foreign Body - bezoar
What can cause vomiting in school age and adolescents?
- Gastroenteritis
- Infection - including pyelonephritis, speticaemia, meningitis
- Peptic ulcer/H. Pylori infection
- Appendicitis
- Migraine
- Raised ICP
- Coeliac disease
- Renal failure
- Diabetic ketoacidosis
- Alcohol/drugs
- Cyclical vomiting syndrome
- Bulimia/anorexia nervosa
- Pregnancy
- Torsion of the testicle
What is GORD?
Gastro-oesophageal reflux
Involuntary passage of gastric contents into the oesophagus
What can contribute to the developement of GORD in children?
- Relatively liquid diet
- Horizontal posture
- Short intra-abdominal oesophagus
What is the general progression of GORD in a child?
Normally resolves by 12 months - upright posture, mature lower oesophageal sphincter and solid diet
What are the complications of GORD?
- Faltering growth
- Oesophagitis
- Recurrent aspiration -> Pneumonia
- Dystonic neck posturing
What groups of children is severe reflux more common in?
- CP or other neurodevelopmental disorders
- Preterm infants
- Post surgery - oesophageal atresia/diaphragmatic hernia
If you suspected GORD, how would you go about confirming diagnosis?
Usually clinically, or:
- Video fluoroscopy
- Barium swallow
- Milk scan
- pH/impedence monitoring
- Endoscopy
How can children with GORD present?
- GI - vomiting, haematemesis
- General - Faltering growth, feeding problems
- Resp - apnoea, wheeze, cough, chest infection
What should you consider as a differential diagnosis if a child is presenting with GORD like symptoms?
Cow’s milk allergy
How would you approach managing a child with GORD?
Determine complexity, then
-
Feeding advise
- Parental reassurance
- Feeding/post feeding position
- Adjust feeding volumes
-
Nutritional support
- Thickener
- Pro-kinetic
- Acid suppression
In children with GORD which is unresponsive to conservative or medical treatment, what else can be done?
Nissen fundoplication
What would indicate the need for fundoplication in a child with GORD?
- No response to treatment
- Oesophagitis
- Faltering growth
- Aspiration
What is pyloric stenosis?
Hypertrophy of the pyloric sphincter causing gastric obstruction
What age does pyloric stenosis present?
4-12 weeks
What sex is more commonly affected by pyloric stenosis?
Boys (4:1)
What would suggest that a child had pyloric stenosis?
- Projectile vomiting - Non-billous, straight after feeding, no diarrhoea
- Dehydration/Shock
- Weight loss
- Constipation - from dehydration
What is the classical electrolyte disturbance seen in pyloric stenosis?
Hypokalaemic Hypochloraemic Metabolic Alkalosis
Vomiting -> loss of hydrochloric acid (hydrogen and chloride ions) with the stomach contents. Severe vomiting -> loss of potassium (hypokalaemia) and sodium (hyponatremia). The kidneys compensate for these losses by retaining sodium in the collecting ducts at the expense of hydrogen ions (sparing sodium/potassium pumps to prevent further loss of potassium), leading to metabolic alkalosis.
What would you see on examination if a child had pyloric stenosis?
- Observe left-to-right LUQ peristalsis during feed
- Palpation of olive sized mass in RUQ
What investigations would you do if you suspected a child had pyloric stenosis?
- Bloods - U&E’s for electrolyte disturbance
- Imaging - US for thickened pylorus
How would you manage a child with pyloric stenosis?
- Fluid resus (0.45% saline, 5% dextrose + KCl)
- NG tube - if stomach is overinflated with air, also for post operative feeding
- Pyloromyotomy (Ramstedt’s)
What is intusucception?
Invagination of proximal bowel into distal segment (commonly ileum into caecum)
What is the most serious complication of intussusception?
Stetching and constriction of the mesentery -> venous obstruction -> engorgement and bleeding of mucosa -> fluid loss, perforation -> peritonitis, gut necrosis
What age does intussusception most commonly occur?
3 months - 2 years
Can occur at any age
How does intussusception present?
- Paroxysmal Colic pain with episodic, painful crying - pale, draws legs up
- Vomiting/Not feeding
- Sausage shaped mass - in abdomen; RF, transverse colon
- Red current jelly stool - late presentation
- Abdominal distention
- Shock
What is thought could be a cause of intussusception?
Viral infection of peyer’s patch, which causes enlargement and forms a lead point
What is more likely to be a lead point in a child over 2 with intussusception?
- Meckel’s diverticulum
- Polyp
How would you investigate for suspected intussusception?
US Scan - look for target sign
How would you treat intussusception?
- Pneumostatic reduction (air enema)
- Laparascopic surgery
When is surgery most likely to be required in managing intussusception?
Peritonitis or unsuccessful air enema
What is Meckel’s Diverticulum?
Ileal remnent of the vitello-intestinal duct which contains ectopic gastric or pancreatic tissue
How does Meckel’s diverticulum present?
Asymptomatic
or
Severe rectal bleeding
Can also present as intussusception, volvulus or diverticulitis
How would you treat Meckel’s Diverticulum?
Surgical resection
What is the definition of chronic diarrhoea?
4 or more stools per day for more than 4 weeks
What is the definition of acute diarrhoea?
< 1 week
What is the defintion of persistent diarrhoea?
2-4 weeks
What are the different types of diarrhoea?
- Osmotic
- Secretory
- Inflammatory
- Altered motility
How does osmotic diarrhoea occur?
Movement of water into the bowel to equilibrate osmotic gradients
Uually a feature of malabsorptive diarrhoea
How does secretory diarrhoea occur?
Toxins switch on ion channels which in turn facilitate excessive water loss
Classically associated with toxin production from Vibrio cholerae and enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli
How does inflammatory diarrhoea occur?
- Malabsorption due to intestinal damage
- Secretory effect of cytokines
- Accelerated transit time in response to inflammation
- Protein exudate across inflamed epithelium
What is a simple way to distinguish between secretory and osmotic diarrhoea?
Fasting test - if diarrhoea stops on fasting, then can assume it is osmotic
What is infant colic?
Common symptom complex which occurs in first few months of life and normally resolves by 4 months
Causes paroxysmal inconsolable crying often accompanied by drawing up of the knees and passage of excessive farts
What would you be thinking in a child that had persistent infant colic?
- Cow’s milk protein allergy
- GORD
What is abdominal migraine?
Abdominal pain in addition to headaches
Can be associated with vomiting and facial pallor
What is recurrent abdominal pain definned as?
Pain sufficient to interupt normal daily activities and last at least 3 months
Pain is often periumbilical
A cause is identified in <10% of cases
What gastrointestinal problems could cause recurrent abdominal pain?
- IBD/IBS
- Constipation
- Non-ulcer dyspepsia
- Abdominal Migraine
- Gastritis/peptic ulceration
- Malrotation