Chronic duodenitis rarely occurs in the form of an isolated disease. In most cases, in patients, the defeat of the duodenum is accompanied by pathological changes in the gastric mucosa.
Duodenitis in children is most often associated with malnutrition (malnutrition, dry eating, malnutrition). The disease may be accompanied by peptic ulcer, pathology of the liver, biliary tract, inflammation of the pancreas or intestines. In addition, duodenitis can develop against the background of giardiasis, pulmonary, cardiovascular, renal and allergic diseases. Risk factors include convulsions, intestinal atony, duodenostasis, unfavorable heredity, frequent respiratory diseases, chronic tonsillitis.
Symptoms of duodenitis in children
Symptoms of duodenitis in children can be very diverse. The main ones are pains in the abdomen of varying intensity and duration, which are most often localized in the epigastric region or the right hypochondrium. In most cases, pain occurs before eating or after eating, less often at night. Most often, patients complain of nausea, in rare cases – belching, heartburn or vomiting. Sometimes patients may develop constipation.
During an exacerbation, patients complain of a breakdown, headache, impaired appetite and sleep. On examination, blurred pain is noted in the right half of the epigastric region, as well as in the right and left hypochondrium. Relapses of duodenitis are observed more often in autumn or spring.
Given the variety of symptoms of duodenitis in children, when making a diagnosis, it is necessary to carry out differential diagnosis with gastric ulcer, chronic gastritis, pathology of the biliary tract and pancreas.
The most common complications are duodenostasis, impaired peristalsis, stenosis, perigastritis, as well as bleeding, which can be quite heavy, resembling peptic ulcer.
To clarify the diagnosis, patients undergo duodenofibroscopy with directed biopsy, as well as x-rays. As part of the first examination, duodenitis manifests itself in the form of inflammation, edema, and scar tissue changes. Localization of the pathological process is most often observed in the region of the duodenal bulb.
X-ray made using artificial hypotension, allows you to detect a violation of the relief and contours of the mucosa and to identify the deformation of the intestine.
Targeted duodenobiopsy makes it possible to detect edema, cell infiltration, changes in the villi. An auxiliary method is duodenal sounding. An increase in the activity of alkaline phosphatase, as well as enterokinase in the intestinal juice, revealed in the study, may also indicate the initial stage of the disease. With a more pronounced structural change, enzymatic activity decreases.
Treatment of duodenitis in children
Treatment of duodenitis in children is carried out in a complex manner, taking into account the individual characteristics of the patient. Therapy depends on the clinic of the disease and has similar principles to the treatment of chronic gastritis and duodenal ulcers.