Nursing Guidelines for Children with Intestinal Obstruction

The physical health of children is an issue that parents are very concerned about. If there is any abnormality in the child's body, parents will be very worried and don't know how to deal with it. We recommend that parents can learn more about the treatment and care guidelines of common childhood diseases so that they will not be at a loss once the child becomes ill. Pediatric intestinal obstruction is a very harmful disease. Below we introduce the care guidelines for pediatric intestinal obstruction.

When lesions inside or outside the intestine cause obstruction of the passage of intestinal contents, it is called intestinal obstruction. There are two main causes of intestinal obstruction. One is called mechanical intestinal obstruction, which is mostly caused by intestinal atresia, intestinal stenosis, intestinal adhesion, intestinal tumors, intussusception, intestinal torsion and other reasons. The other type is called functional intestinal obstruction, which is mostly caused by intestinal paralysis due to indigestion, enteritis, peritonitis, pneumonia, sepsis and after abdominal surgery. After intestinal obstruction occurs, due to the blockage of intestinal contents and disordered intestinal motility, the child may experience symptoms such as abdominal pain, vomiting, cessation of bowel movements and flatulence, and abdominal distension. As the disease progresses, the above symptoms gradually worsen, and abnormal signs such as intestinal distension and gas-liquid level can be seen on abdominal X-rays and fluoroscopy.

At the same time, due to the large amount of exudate in the intestine, vomiting of large amounts of gastrointestinal fluid and absorption of toxins, the sick child suffers a series of systemic changes such as dehydration, acidosis, mental depression, irritability or drowsiness, fever, etc. If complicated with intestinal ischemia, necrosis, or intestinal perforation, it may be life-threatening.

1. The treatment of mechanical intestinal obstruction is mainly surgical, especially for some congenital intestinal malformations, such as congenital intestinal atresia, which must be treated promptly. However, some diseases, such as intussusception, can mostly be treated by gas enema. For example, for adhesive intestinal obstruction, a considerable number of children are relieved through conservative treatments such as fasting, gastrointestinal decompression, traditional Chinese medicine, and infusion.

2. Currently, there are three most common mechanical intestinal obstructions, namely adhesive intestinal obstruction, intussusception and inguinal incarceration. Functional intestinal obstruction is mainly treated by diseases that cause intestinal paralysis. For example, when pneumonia is combined with intestinal paralysis, pneumonia is mainly treated. At the same time, conservative treatments such as fasting, gastrointestinal decompression, and colon cleansing are adopted to alleviate the symptoms of intestinal obstruction. Few patients actually need surgery.

3. Because strangulated intestinal obstruction is a serious condition and progresses rapidly, it should be treated actively and surgery should be performed in time to prevent severe toxic shock and death caused by excessive intestinal necrosis.

In the above article, we introduced a disease that is very harmful to children, that is, pediatric intestinal obstruction. We recommend that parents of pediatric intestinal obstruction patients should not only help patients with the treatment of the disease in a timely manner, but also understand the care methods for pediatric intestinal obstruction.