Why do children have bloody constipation?

This is an automatically translated article.

Constipation with blood is not uncommon in young children, especially children aged 2 - 4 who are still in the potty training period. Babies with bloody constipation are often caused by anal fissures, these lesions can quickly disappear if parents handle them properly and promptly.

1. The reason why the baby is constipated with blood

According to statistics, up to 90% of children with constipation have bloody stools due to anal fissures. Anal fissures are often caused by long-term constipation that causes stool to accumulate in the colon into large, dry, hard lumps. When the child wants to have a bowel movement, he must try his best to push the stool out. This causes the anus to stretch too much, along with too hard stools, creating a strong friction force on the anal wall.
Children with constipation passing blood often appear blood on the surface of the stool or may stick to the crotch, potty seat or toilet seat.
Here is one of the common reasons why your baby may have bloody constipation such as:
Constipation due to malformations such as congenital megacolon, colonic stenosis, congenital hypothyroidism ... Children with these diseases are often constipated within a few days of being born. Intussusception in children: A dangerous form of intestinal obstruction, causing severe abdominal pain with vomiting, bloody stools. Inflammatory bowel disease: When the intestinal mucosa is inflamed, it will cause digestive disorders, gastrointestinal infections. The child's diet is too high in carbohydrates but lacks in fiber and drinks little water. Babies are fed with cow's milk or protein-rich formula. The amount of food the child eats daily is too small. Children are sedentary and often sit and watch TV, use mobile phones, or do static activities. Children refrain from defecation: Children have a fear of dirt, fear that the restrooms at school are not clean and then they will refrain from defecation. In some cases, it is difficult for children to go to the toilet and have to push a lot, which makes them scared, leading to the situation that the child is sad to go to the toilet but still tries not to go. This prolonged situation makes the stool in the rectum more dry, solid, hard, accumulates bigger and bigger, and when the child can't stand it, is forced to go to the toilet, the child will face many difficulties, increase the risk of baby is constipated with blood. When children have difficulty going to the toilet but parents abuse laxatives, enemas, they may experience side effects. Using enemas can help children deal with going to the toilet quickly, but if used regularly, it will bring pain to children from burns, burning, lesions, anal infections and even make them lose their health. natural defecation reflex.

2. Early signs to help parents recognize children with bloody constipation

When the baby is constipated with blood due to anal fissure, there are quite a few obvious signs and parents just need to pay a little attention to be able to check. The characteristics of this condition may be:
The child refuses to go to the toilet and sometimes the child does not go to the toilet or the child will cry and scream, upset every time he has to go to the toilet. The baby's stool is very solid, hard and large with blood on the surface of the stool. Blood is not only on the stool, but also on the child's crotch or toilet seat. Parents can use a flashlight to examine the anus and easily detect small tears in the child's anal canal. After the child has blood in the stool, maybe the next time the child will try to hold back to avoid pain when going to the toilet. The degree of bloody constipation in children depends on the amount of blood lost, specifically:
Mild: The child has little blood in the stool or the blood is only on the surface of the stool. Children still function normally and have rosy skin. Severe level: The child has a lot of blood in the stool, constantly and the stool is only full of blood, even the blood cannot be stopped, causing the child to have signs such as pale skin, fatigue, weakness... When going to school In this case, parents need to take the child to the emergency room immediately for timely treatment.

3. How to overcome constipation in children with blood at home

Treatment of bloody constipation in children depends on the cause and extent of the child's bleeding when going to the toilet. In most cases of children with bloody constipation due to anal fissures, parents can take the following methods to reduce the pain for their children:
When parents find out that their children are constipated, they have blood in their stools. Need to quickly clean the anal area after the child has finished using the toilet. Next, parents should use dilute saline or antiseptic solution to clean the wound for the child. Using ointment to apply to the anus for children helps to reduce the burning sensation and speed up wound healing. In addition, to help children eliminate all accumulated solid or incomplete stools from the previous time as well as to avoid more serious anal fissures, parents use laxatives to enema. Laxatives will help soften the stool and make it easier for your child to go to the bathroom. However, when using laxatives, it is necessary to have a doctor's prescription and follow the instructions to be safe for children.

Anal fissures are quite common in babies, these lesions can quickly disappear when parents handle them properly and promptly. In order to help stop and prevent the recurrence of bloody constipation in children, parents should:
Give the child enough fiber to eat, drink plenty of water. To be able to add enough fiber for children, parents need to follow the principle of vegetable processing to avoid losing or reducing the fiber content and essential vitamins for the child's body. Encourage children to regularly exercise to increase the activity of intestinal peristalsis, helping stools to be quickly expelled and excreted. Constipation can make your baby bloated, gassy, ​​and anorexic. If parents force children to eat too many fruits and vegetables to increase fiber content, it is not beneficial for children. Therefore, along with adding fiber from the diet, parents should consult a doctor to supplement specific fiber for children. In summary, babies with bloody constipation are often caused by anal fissures, these lesions can quickly disappear if parents handle them properly and promptly. In the event that a child has bloody constipation for a long time, the symptoms become more severe, parents should take the child to a medical facility for timely examination and treatment, to limit dangerous complications for children. with children.
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