What principles should be mastered in the treatment of intestinal spasm

Intestinal spasm is a relatively common disease at present, and the main symptom is common abdominal pain. Intestinal spasm usually occurs in children aged 14 years old. Some children will develop the disease at around five years old. The abdominal pain caused by intestinal spasm will be accompanied by recurring and mental pain. There is currently no way to make a good diagnosis, because intestinal spasm is not a local pain, it is very likely to move back and forth. The onset of intestinal spasm is relatively sudden, and abdominal pain will occur in an instant. The patient will show rolling, sweating, pale face, and severe vomiting reaction, which will have a great impact on the body. Complications will occur if you are not careful. Therefore, most intestinal spasms are caused by bad eating habits, so you must pay attention to control it in time.

Intestinal spasm is the most common cause of abdominal pain in children, accounting for more than 60% of children with abdominal pain in outpatient clinics. It often occurs in children aged 5 to 14 years old and is caused by paroxysmal abdominal pain due to contraction of the intestinal smooth muscles. This disease has many names, such as "non-specific abdominal pain", "spasmodic abdominal pain", "psychogenic abdominal pain", and "recurrent abdominal pain".

The cause of the disease is not yet fully understood, but it is now generally recognized that some children are allergic to cow's milk. There are many causes, such as upper respiratory tract infection, local cold, overeating, large amounts of cold food, excessive sugar in food, which lead to intestinal gas accumulation, indigestion, and stimulation from intestinal parasite toxins. Psychological factors are also very important, such as mental stress or depression, family disharmony, parental divorce, fear of going to school, anorexia, etc. Some people define them as "childhood psychosomatic diseases." The child may be "sick" because of bad mood, but the child is definitely not pretending to be sick. Because children's nervous systems are not fully developed and have poor stability, they are more likely to develop autonomic nervous system disorders. Not only the intestinal tract becomes disrupted, but almost all systems become disrupted by mood swings.

The abdominal pain is characterized by sudden onset and the absence of abnormal physical signs between attacks. Intestinal spasms can occur daily or intermittently, and are more common in the morning. The clinical feature is that usually healthy children suddenly have paroxysmal abdominal pain. Some children have a history of similar attacks in the past, which last for several minutes to several hours and then resolve on their own. The abdominal pain varies in severity, most of which are mild recurrent abdominal pain. In severe cases, the patient will cry uncontrollably, roll over, sweat, have a pale face, and have cold palms. When not in an attack, the patient can walk to see a doctor, but if it is secondary to an upper respiratory tract infection, there may be symptoms of the primary disease such as fever. In typical cases, spasms mostly occur in the small intestine, and the abdominal pain is mainly located around the navel. If the spasm occurs in the distal large intestine, the pain is located in the left lower abdomen. If it occurs in the stomach, the pain is mainly in the upper abdomen, often accompanied by nausea and vomiting. The symptoms improve after vomiting the food. Most children recover on their own after 1 to 2 occasional attacks, while many children recover and have attacks from time to time, or even linger for several years. Long-term attacks do not affect the children's nutritional status and life. The vast majority of children recover on their own as they age. Clinical and auxiliary examinations often show no positive findings.

The treatment is mainly to eliminate the cause of the disease. Deworming treatment can be given to expel possible parasites in the intestinal cavity. Antispasmodics and analgesics can be given when pain occurs. If the pain is not too severe, hot compresses can be applied to the child's abdomen, or wind oil and cooling oil can be applied topically. If the pain is severe and lasts for a long time, oral antispasmodics and analgesics can be taken, such as belladonna mixture.