What is megacolon?

Many people may not know what megacolon is. In fact, megacolon is a relatively common congenital disease and a common cause of constipation in children. Children with megacolon often show symptoms such as crying, restlessness, refusal to eat, and vomiting.

1. "Congenital Hirschsprung's disease" is a common congenital disease in children and one of the important causes of constipation in children.

2. According to statistics, one in 5,000 newborns will suffer from this disease. Severely affected infants may have no meconium excretion or only a small amount of meconium within 72 hours after birth, accompanied by symptoms of incomplete intestinal obstruction such as abdominal distension and vomiting. Most children do not have obvious symptoms of intestinal obstruction, with stubborn constipation as the main symptom. They have bowel movements every few days to weeks, and the constipation becomes increasingly severe. The abdomen becomes noticeably swollen, with the belly becoming thin and tight, and even veins protruding under the skin, making the abdomen as big as a drum.

3. The child often cries, refuses to eat, and vomits. After enema or taking laxatives, a large amount of gas and feces may be discharged, and the abdominal distension will be relieved immediately, but constipation will return afterwards. Some children also suffer from enteritis, and diarrhea will follow constipation. If you have the above symptoms, you must go to the hospital for rectal examination, intrarectal pressure measurement, abdominal X-ray and enema to confirm the diagnosis.

4. The radical cure for correcting megacolon is surgery. The part of the intestine without intestinal wall ganglia is removed, the end of the rectum is anastomosed to the colon, and the anal sphincter is retained. With the advancement of modern pediatric surgery and anesthesia technology, surgery can be performed in the neonatal period. For children with mild symptoms, conservative treatment can be used, that is, regular enema, oral Chinese medicine, such as hemp seed, raw earth, bitter orange, Chuanpu, trichosanthes seed, rhubarb, etc., or taking Chinese patent medicine such as Ma Ren Wan, Wang's Baochi Wan, etc.