Long colon disease in children

The colon, also known as the large intestine, is the part of the intestine in the digestive tract attached to the anal canal, this is an extremely important part of the abdomen. How many meters long is the colon? In the body of each person and depending on each sex, the colon has different sizes, the length of the colon can reach 1m9cm. In Vietnamese people, the colon is on average 1m48cm long, accounting for about 1⁄5 the length of the entire digestive tract.
Long colon in children is a condition in which the colon is longer than the average length of the colon compared to children of the same age. The cause may be birth defects or long-term constipation that causes stagnation of stool, dilating the loops of the colon.

Long colon disease in children can appear in people such as infants and young children, there are 2 main causes leading to long colon including:
Due to birth defects in the colon: as soon as the child The baby's colon was born with an abnormality. Statistics show that about 10% of children are born with congenital long colon. Congenital long colon in children is not considered a disease but is an abnormal physiological phenomenon and is not worrisome. Constipation: Prolonged constipation is also the cause of a long colon and an enlarged colon. This condition is quite common in young children, according to statistics, up to 90% of children are identified with long colon for constipation. The cases of children with long colon that cause constipation and other gastrointestinal symptoms are called diseases and need to be treated with many methods depending on the severity.

Long colon in children often causes constipation. Therefore, the outward signs of the disease are mostly caused by constipation. Symptoms of a long colon include:
Poor eating and sleeping, children's health is increasingly depleted due to prolonged constipation because children have a long colon, stools move in the colon longer than usual, so stools are absorbed. more water and become dry. Abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting occur when the long colon causes torsion or bowel obstruction, but are rarer. This is a symptom that endangers the health of the patient if not detected and treated promptly. In the case of children with congenital long colon, the symptoms usually progress as follows:
Symptoms appear in the first month, usually account for 80-90% of cases: are bowel disorders in infants. After the first 24 hours, children slow to pass meconium, then have frequent constipation, abdominal distension and increase gradually due to stagnation of stool. Pale skin, agitation and rapid breathing due to abdominal distension obstructs breathing. Some children have few symptoms in the second and third weeks, long colon disease often has no obvious symptoms in the first 6 months. Children only have frequent episodes of constipation and episodes of intestinal inflammation, besides, their weight also increases more slowly than other normal children.

Long colon disease in children does not require treatment if the disease does not cause volvulus or intestinal obstruction. Children can live a healthy life with the main support methods through daily diet without the need for medical intervention.
Therapy for the long colon in children should focus on treating constipation. Parents need to adjust their children's diet and reasonable activities to help improve the situation. If long colon disease does not interfere with bowel movements, parents should not be too worried.
In the case of children with volvulus or intestinal obstruction due to excessive stimulation of the long colon, surgery may be required to remove the dilated part of the colon. Then, connect one end of the normal colon together and perform normal digestive function.

To effectively prevent long colon disease in children, parents need to take preventive measures for children. Some causes of constipation, for example:
Children are busy playing, lazy to push, so they don't want to sit for a long time on the toilet. When the abdominal pain passes or does not go away, the remaining amount of stool will remain and become harder, causing constipation. Children eat more sweets and drink less water. Children often refrain from going to the toilet and do not want to go to school or strange environments. The daily diet lacks micronutrients and fiber. The child is afraid of pain like the previous constipation. The child can change the milk or the mother makes the baby formula thicker than before. Therefore, parents need to find out the causes of constipation in children to help them improve this situation. Some measures to help prevent constipation in children include:
Teach children to form the habit of defecating at a fixed time of day. Drink enough water every day including milk, fruit juice, soup and filtered water Encourage children to eat lots of green vegetables and fruits, add more fiber to the body. For formula-fed babies, it is important to choose milk with added fiber and beneficial bacteria to help the baby's intestinal tract work more efficiently. In summary, the long colon in children can be caused by congenital or long-term constipation. Therefore, parents need to take good measures to prevent constipation, then the child's condition will gradually improve or prevent constipation. For cases of constipation that does not improve, persists without relief, it is necessary to take the child to a medical facility to examine and determine the cause for proper treatment.
With many years of experience in examining and treating diseases in children, now the Pediatrics Department at Vinmec International General Hospital has become one of the major health care centers, capable of examining , screening and treatment of many specialized diseases in children. Therefore, if the child shows signs of long colon disease, parents can take the child to Vinmec International General Hospital for examination and receive support and advice from doctors and nutritionists.