Boy N.V (4 years old, Binh Phuoc province) was admitted to Children's Hospital 2 in Ho Chi Minh City due to prolonged constipation. Family members said that the child had been treated in many places but there was no improvement. The child could not defecate on his own and had to use laxatives daily, combined with rectal pumps or enemas. The condition had lasted since birth, causing V to have poor appetite, poor absorption, malnutrition, and a constantly distended abdomen due to feces stagnation in the colon.
At the hospital, the patient underwent a contrast colon X-ray and a rectal suction biopsy. The biopsy results showed that the child had Hirschsprung's disease (congenital megacolon) in a short segment. The rectum near the anus had no nerve ganglion cells, which caused prolonged constipation. The patient underwent surgery to remove the diseased segment of intestine. One month after surgery, V had bowel movements almost like a normal child, and his malnutrition gradually improved.
According to Dr. Pham Ngoc Thach - Deputy Director of Children's Hospital 2, every year, the hospital receives and performs surgery on 250 - 300 cases of Hirschsprung's disease from infants to older children. Therefore, parents should note that when children have prolonged constipation and have been treated with medication, changed their diet... but still do not respond, they should be taken to pediatric surgeons for appropriate diagnosis and treatment to avoid dangerous complications.
Doctor Thach also informed that constipation is a common disease in children. However, when the condition persists and is not treated promptly, it can lead to poor absorption of nutrients, vitamins, and minerals. More dangerously, it can lead to severe enteritis, intestinal obstruction, intestinal perforation, etc. Currently, the treatment of constipation in children can be divided into two methods, including medical constipation (medical treatment) and surgical constipation (surgical treatment).
In which, internal medicine constipation includes functional constipation due to children holding in bowel movements, inappropriate diet, low fiber intake, lack of water, lack of exercise; some diseases such as hyperthyroidism, hypothyroidism, diabetes, diseases related to the nervous system such as cerebral palsy, psychomotor retardation... Internal medicine constipation treatment includes changing diet, practicing bowel habits, drinking plenty of water, increasing exercise, if not responding, you can give your child laxatives, anal enema to stimulate bowel movements.
Surgical constipation includes common diseases such as Hirschsprung's disease, anal position abnormalities. Hirschsprung's disease is usually detected in newborns, infants, and sometimes in older children. Common symptoms are constipation that does not respond to medical treatment, sometimes children are hospitalized with severe enteritis or intestinal perforation, which is life-threatening.
