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Pediatric Gastroenterology

A paediatric gastroenterologist can treat your child if he or she has a digestive, liver, or nutritional condition. Digestive system, hepatic, and nutritional issues in children are entirely different from those seen in adults. Pediatric gastroenterologist are specially trained for handling children and their unique problems.

Pediatric gastroenterologists care for children’s gut from birth to adolescence to keep it healthy.They typically treat disorders such as gastrointestinal bleeding, Food allergies or intolerances e.g. lactose intolerance. Inflammatory bowel illness, short bowel syndrome, and severe or complicated gastroesophageal reflux disease (reflux or GERD), acute or persistent abdominal pain, Chronic constipation, vomiting, Chronic Diarrhoea, Pancreatitis and pancreatic insufficiency (including cystic fibrosis), Nutritional issues (such as malnutrition, failure to thrive, and obesity), as well as feeding difficulties.

Chronic diarrhoea

  • Diarrhea that persists for more than two to four weeks is termed chronic diarrhoea. It is sometimes caused by an underlying medical condition and needs further investigation.

Inflammatory bowel diseases

  • Disorders that involve chronic inflammation of tissues in the digestive track are termed as Inflammatory Bowel Diseases.

    • Types of IBD are

  • Ulcerative colitis. Inflammation and sores (ulcers) along the lining of the large intestine (colon) and rectum.

  • Crohn's disease. Inflammation of the lining of the digestive tract which often involves deeper layers of the tract. This can affect the small and large intestine as well as the upper gastrointestinal tract.

Upper gastrointestinal bleed

  • It involves blood loss from a gastrointestinal source above the ligament of Treitz. This could manifest as hematemesis, which can be bright red emesis or coffee-ground emesis, haematochezia, or melena.

Lower gastrointestinal bleed

  • Lower gastrointestinal bleeding (LGIB) is gastrointestinal bleeding involving the lower gastrointestinal tract. Around 85% of lower gastrointestinal bleeding involves the colon, 10% are from bleeds that are actually upper gastrointestinal bleeds, and 3–5% involve the small intestines.

Dysphagia

  • When there is difficulty in swallowing liquids or solids, it is called Dysphagia. This condition could result from narrowing of the oesophagus and may need medical intervention.

Constipation

  • Infrequent bowel movements or difficulty passing stools persisting for several weeks is termed as Chronic constipation. This may cause people to strain excessively in order to have a bowel movement. Treatment for chronic constipation needs investigation of underlying cause.

Faecal incontinence

  • The inability to control bowel movements, causing stool (faeces) to leak unexpectedly from the rectum is called Faecal incontinence. This disorder ranges from an occasional leakage of stool while passing gas to a complete inability to control bowel movement. Treatments can improve this issue and improve quality of life.

Pain abdomen

  • Abdominal pain has many causes, some more serious than others. What feels like a stomach ache may be coming from another organ in your abdomen, or from outside of your digestive system. Always seek medical care if your abdominal pain is unexplained, persistent or severe.

Pancreatitis

  • Pancreatitis is inflammation of the pancreas. The condition could be acute which appears suddenly and lasts for days. Chronic pancreatitis is another kind which occurs over the course of many years.

Intestinal obstruction

  • When there is a blockage that prevents food or liquid from passing through the small intestine or large intestine (colon), it is termed as an Intestinal obstruction. Prompt medical care can treat intestinal obstruction effectively.

Gastroesophageal reflux

  • A digestive disorder where acidic stomach juices, or food and fluids back up from the stomach into the oesophagus. This phenomenon happens while burping causing an acidic taste or heartburn. Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) that interferes with daily functioning needs to be treated.