Pediatric Gastroenterology
Pediatric Gastroenterology
Pediatric gastroenterology developed as a sub-specialty of pediatrics and gastroenterology. It is concerned with treating the gastrointestinal tract, liver and pancreas of children from infancy until age eighteen.Pediatric gastroenterology is the investigation and management of disorders of the gastrointestinal tract (the oesophagus, stomach, pancreas, small intestine and colon) in infants and children.
Pediatric gastroenterologists know how to examine and treat children in a way that makes them relaxed and cooperative. Pediatric gastroenterologists focus on problems unique to pediatric patients, including growth, maturation, physical and emotional development, and age-related social issues.
Pediatric gastroenterologist has the expertise to treat child that has a digestive system, liver, or nutritional problems.
Nutrition
The correct function of the gastric tract and the internal health is related to the nutrition that the child or its mother receives. From the prenatal period, correct nutrition can affect the developing of the system, short bowel syndrome (the most common one), necrotizing enterocolitis, gastroschisis or omphalocele to the postnatal period with diseases such as diarrhea.One of the principal problems of a newborn is an iron deficiency, which will generate anemia. This is caused when the only food that the baby receives is maternal milk which does not fulfill the baby’s nutrition. There is no treatment for this in this period because iron will reach normal levels with the weaning process. The weaning process consists in transitioning from feeding the baby low density food such as maternal milk to start feeding it more complex foods such as meat, fish, or chicken. (uniped) If the weaning process is not carried out correctly or if the child rejects the transition of food the iron deficiency will generate an anemia or even create allergies to certain food. In such cases gastric pediatricians, and not regular pediatricians, should be consulted to treat the anemia because they will now how to recover the correct iron levels without causing any secondary effects in the digestive system.
The most common nutrition problems during the childhood are being overweight or underweight, both caused by an imbalance in the number of caloried consumed versus the number burned. Both in children should be treated by a gastric pediatrician and a pediatric nutritionist at the same time to help the child recover his normal weight without secondary effects (hypertension, gastritis, etc.). The nutritionist will regulate the eating habits of the child, however, the pediatric gastroenterologist will be the one checking how the change in food habits affects the correct functionality of the digestive system.
Diseases
A pediatrician can provide treatment to many gastric diseases, but chronic diseases, related with the nutrition of the children, the pancreas or the liver needs to be treated by a specialist. The following are two of the most common ones. Acute diarrhea is one of the most common. Globally, each of the 140 million children born annually experience an average of 7-30 episodes of diarrhea in the first 5 years of life. Some of the causes are infections, lower levels of zinc or problems with some gastric cells.Infant regurgitation is caused by a central nervous system reflex involving both autonomic and skeletal muscles in which gastric contents are forcefully expelled through the mouth because of coordinated movements of the small bowel, stomach, esophagus, and diaphragm. Diagnosis requires that the child be between 1 to 12, the regurgitation must be two or more times per day for three or more weeks, and there is a strong involuntary effort to vomit, hematemesis, aspiration, apnea, failure to thrive, or abnormal posturing. This is transient problem, possibly cause to the immaturity of gastrointestinal motility.
Common conditions and disorders
The following is a representative sample of the most common conditions for pediatric gastroenterology:
- Abdominal Pain
- Celiac Disease
- Constipation
- Diarrhea
- Diseases of the Gallbladder and Pancreas
- Esophagitis
- Feeding Problems/Failure to Thrive
- Food Allergies
- Gastroesophageal Reflux
- Gastrointestinal Bleeding
- Inflammatory Bowel Disease (Crohn’s Disease/Ulcerative Colitis)
- Irritable Bowel Syndrome
- Liver Disease
- Motility Disorders
- Obesity
- Short Bowel Syndrome
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