Two days ago, a mother asked me backstage, saying that 5-year-old children often shout stomach pains, give some hot water, and climb a little. Why?
In pediatric consultations, many parents are often heard saying that their children were still happy to play a second ago, and suddenly they cried out that their stomach hurt, and sometimes even turned over and over in pain. The parents rushed to the hospital with their children, but before they arrived at the hospital, the children jumped alive again.
At this time, the doctor will generally recommend an ultrasound, and the results can often be seen that the child's mesenteric lymph nodes are enlarged. This suggests that the child may have mesenteric lymphadenitis.
What is mesenteric lymphadenitis?
As we all know, lymph nodes are part of our body's immune organs. It not only exists outside the surface of the human neck, armpits and other bodies, but also in the deep parts of tissues such as retroperitoneum and mesentery of the human body.
Lymph nodes have a very powerful function, that is, they can help the body filter bacteria and viruses in the lymph fluid, so that bacteria and viruses do not spread to other parts of the body. When an infection occurs in the tissues of the area where the lymph nodes are located, some of the bacteria and viruses that invade through the lymphatic fluid may be filtered by the lymph nodes, but it may also trigger inflammation of the lymph nodes, which can lead to lymphadenopathy or even lymphadenitis.
Mesenteric lymphadenitis refers to inflammation of the mesenteric lymph nodes located in the abdomen of the human body. Common infections are coxsackie B virus, streptococcus and Staphylococcus aureus, but mainly viral infections. Often occurs after an upper respiratory tract infection and acute gastroenteritis.
Mesenteric lymphadenitis occurs mostly in minors, and children aged 3 to 15 years are the age group with a high incidence of the disease. Someone once counted the disease and found that more than half of the patients with the disease were children under the age of 8.
This is due to the fact that the child's lymphatic system is not yet mature, coupled with the child's poor intestinal barrier effect, and the lymph nodes of the mesentery are mostly distributed along the blood vessels and branches of the mesenteric membrane, and the lymph nodes at the end of the ileum are abundantly distributed. When a child develops infections of the respiratory tract and gastrointestinal tract, lymphadenopathy often occurs in these areas.
How can I tell if my child has mesenteric lymphadenitis?
Abdominal pain is the main manifestation of mesenteric lymphadenitis, and abdominal pain is mostly in the right lower abdomen, but can also be seen in a wider range, and is often accompanied by fever.
There are many causes of abdominal pain in children, mesenteric lymphadenitis is just one of them. Therefore, when the child has abdominal pain, it is recommended that parents take the child to the hospital in time to clarify the cause.
When doctors suspect that your child has mesenteric lymphadenitis, they will generally recommend an abdominal ultrasound and a blood routine. Abdominal ultrasonography can clearly see whether the lymph nodes are enlarged, and at the same time, it can also rule out whether the appendix is inflamed. The level of white blood cells on a blood routine test can help reflect your child's infection. Under normal circumstances, these two tests can basically meet the needs of diagnosis.
How should we care for my child with mesenteric lymphadenitis?
When a child has mesenteric lymphadenitis, it is generally cured with standardized anti-infective treatment. During the child's illness, we can also make some adjustments in life and diet to help the child recover as soon as possible.
In life, we must let children rest more and ensure that children have enough sleep time.
In terms of diet, the food we provide to children should be light, easy to digest, low in sugar, and high in fiber. Avoid raw, cold, fried, high-sugar and other foods. At the same time, let the child drink more water to ensure the intake of liquids.
We want to reduce the chance of children suffering from mesenteric lymphadenitis, we must start from small daily things, provide a balanced diet for children, properly arrange children's exercise time, and wash their hands frequently to reduce the occurrence of infectious diseases in children, which is our best means of prevention.