Intussusception
I have presented this condition before but because of the many cases of watery stools and vomiting among the pediatric age group this time, I wish to revisit this topic once again. Intussusception is an unusual form of luminal obstruction occurring most commonly in children. What happens here is that, there is an invagination of a length of bowel into an adjacent distal portion.
The patient will have a severe spasmodic abdominal pain and associated with vomiting. This may occur in previously healthy infants. When the pain subsides, the patient lies limp, pale and sweaty. After a while, the pain occurs again until the intensity is increasingly progressive and soon the patient will have a bloody mucoid stools as a result of bleeding from the rapidly engorged and ischemic intussusception. This type of stool is called “currant jelly “ stools and is pathognomonic of intussusception.
The physician should have a high index of suspicion for children presenting the symptoms as mentioned above since this intussusception is an emergency. If the condition is not reduced, the patient becomes weaker. Vomiting is more frequent until vomitus is being bile- stained. Then the patient may go into shock- like state with a very high body temperature.
Laboratories like xrays will reveal dilated loops of bowel. And in Barium enema, a coiled spring appearance of the barium between the walls of the intussusception can be demonstrated.