Symptoms of intestinal obstruction in babies, young parents please pay attention

Parents are most afraid of their children getting sick, because children do not know how to describe the symptoms of the disease, so parents will be at a loss. However, many diseases have obvious symptoms. For example, if a baby suffers from intestinal obstruction, the symptoms are still very obvious.

(1) Abdominal pain: paroxysmal colic. Jejunal or upper ileal obstruction, with attacks occurring every 3 to 5 minutes. Terminal ileal or large intestinal obstruction, with attacks occurring every 6 to 9 minutes. Pain is relieved during the intervals between attacks. During the colic, there are hyperactive bowel sounds. Bowel sounds are high-pitched and sometimes the sound of air passing through water can be heard. Paralytic intestinal obstruction may be without abdominal pain. High-level small intestinal obstruction colic may not be severe. Middle or low intestinal obstruction presents typical severe colic, located around the umbilicus or inaccurately located. Each colic may last from a few seconds to a few minutes. If paroxysmal colic turns into persistent abdominal pain, it should be considered that strangulated intestinal obstruction has developed.

(2) Vomiting: After obstruction, the reverse peristalsis of the intestine causes the patient to vomit. The vomitus first consists of gastric contents and then intestinal contents. The colic of high-level small intestinal obstruction is not severe, but vomiting is frequent. In mid- or distal-level small intestinal obstruction, vomiting occurs later. In low-level small intestinal obstruction, the vomitus is sometimes fecal-like. This is caused by the retention of intestinal contents, excessive bacterial growth, and the decomposition of intestinal contents.

(3) Abdominal distension: It often occurs in the late stage. High-level small intestinal obstruction is not as obvious as low-level one. Colonic obstruction rarely causes reflux due to the presence of the ileocecal valve. The obstruction is usually closed-loop, so the abdominal distension is obvious. In case of strangulated intestinal obstruction, the abdomen is asymmetrically distended and enlarged intestinal loops can be felt.

(4) Stopped passing gas and bowel movements: Patients with intestinal obstruction generally stop passing gas and bowel movements through the anus. However, patients with mesenteric vascular embolism and intussusception may pass loose stools or bloody mucus. Patients with colon tumors, diverticula, or gallstone obstruction often have black stools.