Vomiting Flashcards
Infant vomiting can be split into 4 types? [4]
- With retching
- Projectile
- Effortless
- Bilious
Describe vomiting with retching in 3 phases:
Pre-ejection phase: A prodrome of pallor, nauseas and tachycardia
Ejection phase: Retching and vomiting
Post-ejection phase: Often a follow on of weakness, shivering and lethargy
What can cause vomiting with retching in a child? [6]
Causes that stimulate vomiting centre:
- Enteric pathogen, urine infection
- Neuro: increased ICP eg head injury
- Metabolic: DKA
- ENT: travel/motion sickness
- GU: testicular torsion, nephrolithiasis
- GI: appendicitis, pancreatitis
What could cause a child to projectile vomit? [3]
GORD
Overfeeding
Pyloric Stenosis
Pyloric stenosis: age, gender?
Expect to see it 3-8 weeks old and more often in boys
6wk old boy comes in with non-bilious projectile vomiting - what do you suspect?
What are key features of the vomitus? [3]
Associated symptoms [2]
What can you find on examination [2]
Investigations [2]
Dx: Pyloric stenosis Non-bilious, white projectile vomiting - large volumes after feeding Weight loss, electrolyte disturbances Examination [2] - Palpable "olive" tumour - Visible gastric peristalsis - Dehydrated Investigations: Test feed in hospital, U&E
What would you expect to see on a pyloric stenosis ABG? [3]
Metabolic Alkalosis
Hypokalaemia
Hypochloraemia
Management of pyloric stenosis [2]
Fluid resuscitation
Ramstedt’s Pyloromyotomy
Bilious vomiting is an intestinal obstruction until proven otherwise, can be caused by? [5]
- Intestinal Atresia (newborn)
- Malrotation +/- volvulus
- Intussusception
- Crohn’s + strictures
- Ileus
How would you approach a child with bilous vomiting? [3]
Abdo X-ray
Contrast meal
~Exploratory Laparotomy
What causes effortless vomiting? [1]
Mostly GORD
How would GORD look in a child? [4]
Effortless vomiting, hematemesis
Feeding aversion/distress, FTT
~Resp symptoms e.g. apnoea, cough, wheeze or LRTI
~Sandifer’s syndrome
Sandifer’s syndrome [2]
How to cure [1]
Spastic Torticollis & dystonic body movements due to GORD
Resolved by treating GORD
How do we test kids for GORD? [4]
- Clinical dx
- Endoscopy (eosinophilic esophagitis)
- pH study (gold standard)
- Barium swallow with video fluoroscopy (hiatus hernia, strictures)
There are 4 modalities to treating childhood GORD [4]
- Feeding advice: feeding position
- Exclusion diet
- Rx
- Surgery