Examination of infantile megacolon

Some people always don’t understand how a newborn baby can get sick? In fact, babies grow by absorbing nutrients while in the mother's womb, so it is normal for them to get sick. Even if they are sick, there is no need for family members to worry. Just go for a check-up and you will feel at ease. Regarding the examination of infant megacolon, I will introduce you to the relevant content below, hoping it will be helpful to you.

Infantile megacolon, also known as intestinal aganglionosis, is a common congenital intestinal malformation in children caused by persistent spasm of the rectum or distal colon and fecal stagnation in the proximal colon, which causes hypertrophy and dilation of the intestine.

Examination of infantile megacolon

1. Medical history and physical signs: More than 90% of the children have no meconium within 36 to 48 hours after birth, and then have intractable constipation and abdominal distension. They must undergo enema, laxatives or anal plugs to defecate. They often have a history of malnutrition, anemia and loss of appetite. The abdomen is highly distended and can be seen to be wide. Rectal digital examination feels that the rectal ampulla is empty and cannot touch the feces. The feces can only be touched after the spasm segment to the dilation segment.

2. X-ray findings: Abdominal upright films often show low colon obstruction. Barium enema lateral and anteroposterior photos show typical spasmodic and dilated intestinal segments. Barium excretion function is poor. Barium is still retained after 24 hours. If the barium is not washed out by enema in time, barium stones may form. In case of enteritis, the intestinal wall of the dilated intestinal segment is serrated. In infants, dilated intestinal tracts can be seen by comparison more than half a month after birth. If the diagnosis is still not confirmed, the following examinations should be performed.

3. Biopsy: Take a small piece of tissue from the submucosal layer and muscular layer of the rectal wall 4 cm away from the anus to check the number of ganglion cells. Children with megacolon lack ganglion cells.

4. Anorectal manometry measures the reflex pressure changes of the rectum and anal sphincter to diagnose congenital megacolon and differentiate constipation caused by other reasons. In normal children and functional constipation, when the rectum is stimulated by expansion, the internal sphincter immediately relaxes reflexively and the pressure decreases. In children with congenital megacolon, the internal sphincter not only does not relax but also contracts significantly, causing the pressure to increase. This method may sometimes produce false positive results in infants under 10 days old.

5. Rectal mucosal histochemical examination: This is based on the fact that the hyperplasia of the parasympathetic preganglionic fibers in the submucosal and muscular ganglion cells of the spasmodic segment continuously releases a large amount of acetylcholine and cholinesterase. Chemical methods can be used to determine that the number and activity of both are 5 to 6 times higher than that of normal children. It helps in the diagnosis of congenital megacolon and can be used for infants.

The above is the content of the examination for infant megacolon. After reading this, everyone has a certain understanding. If you judge that your child may have this disease, you can take the child for an examination. Only after the results are out can everyone receive the next step of treatment. For more knowledge, you can follow the editor at any time. The editor will continue to contribute sincerely to everyone.