Four-year-old baby has diarrhea

Generally speaking, if a four-year-old baby has diarrhea, the most important thing to do is to find out the cause so that targeted treatment can be given. Otherwise, there is no way to relieve the symptoms. Especially in the case of acute diarrhea, it can be very dangerous and may even directly lead to persistent nausea and vomiting in the patient, causing many complications, which is very troublesome.

1. Acute diarrhea

The onset is acute, and the course of the disease is within 2 to 3 weeks. It can be divided into watery diarrhea and dysentery-like diarrhea. The former does not contain blood or pus in the stool, may not be accompanied by tenesmus, and the abdominal pain is relatively mild; the latter has bloody and purulent stools, often accompanied by tenesmus and abdominal cramps. Infectious diarrhea is often accompanied by abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting and fever. Small intestine infection is often watery diarrhea, and large intestine infection is often bloody stool.

2. Chronic diarrhea

The frequency of bowel movements increases, with more than 3 bowel movements per day, loose or unformed stools, a water content of more than 85% in the stool, sometimes accompanied by mucus, pus and blood, and recurrent diarrhea that lasts for more than two months, or has an intermittent period of 2 to 4 weeks. Patients with lesions located in the rectum and/or sigmoid colon often have tenesmus, small bowel movements each time, and sometimes only a small amount of gas and mucus. The stool is darker in pink, mostly sticky and jelly-like, and may be mixed with blood. Abdominal discomfort is located on both sides of the abdomen or in the lower abdomen.

The characteristics of diarrhea caused by small intestinal lesions are abdominal discomfort mostly located around the navel, which worsens after meals or before defecation, without tenesmus, and the stool is unformed, liquid, lighter in color, and larger in volume. In patients with chronic pancreatitis and small intestinal malabsorption, oil droplets, foam, food residues and a foul odor may be seen in the stool. Diarrhea caused by diseases such as schistosomiasis, chronic dysentery, colorectal cancer, and ulcerative colitis often contains pus and blood in the stool. Irritable bowel syndrome and intestinal tuberculosis often have alternating diarrhea and constipation. Depending on the cause, it may be accompanied by symptoms such as abdominal pain, fever, weight loss, and abdominal mass.

1. Blood routine and biochemical examination

It can be used to detect anemia, increased white blood cell count, diabetes, and the balance of electrolytes and acid-base.

2. Stool examination

Examination of fresh stool is the most important step in diagnosing the cause of acute and chronic diarrhea. It can reveal red and white blood cells, phagocytes, protozoa, ova, fat droplets and undigested food. Occult blood tests can detect bleeding. Stool culture can detect pathogenic microorganisms.

3. X-ray examination

Barium X-ray examination and abdominal plain film can show gastrointestinal lesions, intestinal motility status, etc.

4. Selective angiography and CT examination

It is particularly valuable for diagnosing digestive system tumors such as liver cancer and pancreatic cancer.

5. Endoscopic and biopsy pathological examination

Endoscopic examination has important diagnostic value for intestinal tumors and inflammatory lesions. Mucosal biopsy helps detect early malignancies, precancerous lesions, and certain parasites.

6. Small Intestinal Absorption Function Test

The absorption function of the small intestine can be understood through methods such as fecal fat determination, bile salt absorption test, vitamin B12 absorption test, and dexylitol absorption test.

7. Determination of gastrointestinal hormones and chemicals in serum and urine

It has important diagnostic value for the diagnosis of various gastrointestinal neuroendocrine tumors.