Blood in the stool of a 2 year old child. Blood in the stool in a child: possible causes. Treatment

The presence of bloody discharge in the stool is not uncommon. This is a signal to parents that pathological processes are taking place in the child's body. From the moment the baby is born, the mother needs to constantly monitor the consistency of the stool and observe other manifestations - diarrhea, nausea or high fever. If a child goes to the toilet with blood, you should immediately call a doctor.

There are quite a few reasons for bleeding. All of them are serious and require medical examination and further therapy. One of the most common causes of this phenomenon is a hemorrhoid or anal fissure. In this case, the blood is scarlet and may remain on the napkin. In this case, you do not need to panic. Call a doctor, he will prescribe treatment. Such pathological processes are quite easily treated. The main thing is to notice the problem in time. There are many other causes besides hemorrhoids and anal fissures.

By the nature and consistency of the feces, one can already roughly judge the pathology. If drops of blood on the surface of the feces remain on the napkin, on the walls of the pot, most likely, we are talking about a hemorrhoidal node. If the consistency is liquid and dark, infection is possible. Usually, against the background of such bowel movements, a high body temperature rises. These symptoms often indicate dysentery or dysentery. If the stool is black, we are talking about internal bleeding in the upper gastrointestinal tract. Often, the blood in the stool is hidden, it is difficult to see it with the naked eye. This phenomenon indicates serious problems with the gastrointestinal tract.

There are a number of reasons that can provoke bleeding.

All of them, one way or another, relate to malfunctions in the gastrointestinal tract. The main reasons include:

Inflammation of the stomach lining or gastritis. With this disease, bowel movements with blood can be observed.
Inflammatory processes, dystrophic changes (enteritis).
Inflammatory process, in other words, colitis.
A stomach ulcer can also provoke the appearance. With this disease, the formation of a defect on the gastric mucosa is observed.
Duodenal ulcer.
Helminthiasis, infectious diseases are often accompanied by blood feces.
Food allergies, poisoning can also have such a symptom - blood in the stool.
Hemorrhoids, cracks, etc.

The appearance of blood in a child's stool may indicate a serious illness such as cancer. In this case, the blood is scarlet, it can be seen on the walls of the pot, on a napkin; during bowel movements, the blood can flow in a thin stream or drip. After the act of defecation, everything goes away. Pain is also observed, which is often external in nature. However, such a manifestation can be with hemorrhoids and with a crack. In any case, you need to take the child to a doctor, only he will be able to make the correct diagnosis.

To determine the possible cause of spotting, parents should closely monitor the baby. This will help to collect the correct anamnesis when examined by a pediatrician, to prescribe the necessary ones, and to undergo other examinations.

Useful video - Blood in the stool of a child:

If blood appears in the stool, you should immediately consult a doctor, even if symptoms such as high fever, pain during bowel movements, nausea or vomiting are not observed. Unclean stool indicates a pathological process inside the body that will not go away on its own. It needs to be treated under the supervision of a pediatrician, not on your own. This is especially important when it comes to children under two years old.

After the birth of a child, parents must definitely monitor the health of the baby, his bowel movements. Timely identification of the problem will help not to start the pathological process and not bring it to.

Diagnostics of pathologies

A number of studies will be required to make a diagnosis. First of all, the doctor will examine the baby by palpation and ask about the nature of the bowel movements. Next, the little patient will be sent for delivery, as well as feces to identify worms and hidden blood.

If the picture is unclear, a procedure such as sigmoidoscopy may be required. It is needed for examining the lower intestines, the study is carried out using an endoscope. The procedure is reduced to the introduction of a small camera into the anus. If it does not stop, such a study is not carried out. To get a clear and clear picture of the state of the lower intestine, the child should be prepared for the procedure. To do this, he is put on a diet, which the doctor will prescribe, and a few hours before the examination, he cannot eat at all.

If sigmoidoscopy revealed nothing, it may be required.

Modern equipment will help to identify the real cause of anal bleeding, the presence of hidden blood in the feces. Along with colonoscopy and sigmoidoscopy, and is appointed. Usually, ultrasound and blood tests already give a clear picture of the disease. The main thing is to seek help in time and not to self-medicate.

Treatment methods

Treatment regimens depend on the type of disease that provokes the appearance of blood in the stool. So, for example, a hemorrhoidal node is treated with ointments, suppositories, as well as haemostatic drugs, vaso-strengthening.

Surgery is rarely prescribed. Infectious diseases are accompanied by antibiotic therapy and compulsory hospitalization. Ulcerative colitis is a serious condition that is difficult to treat. Any therapy implies adherence to a strict diet so that the intestines are not loaded.

In addition to the main drugs, various drugs are prescribed to restore the intestinal flora - prebiotics, probiotics. For some diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, hormone therapy is prescribed.

Foods that can provoke fermentation during digestion should be excluded from the diet. Also, you can not use spices, sweets, fatty and fried foods. The doctor will give the parents a list of permitted foods. If polyps are found during the examination, surgery or their removal with a colonoscope will be required. After the tissues are examined and their nature is established - malignant or benign. If the latter is the case, no further treatment is required. Malignant tumors are treated with chemotherapy, radiation therapy, or surgery.

When it comes to hemorrhoids, doctors often advise resorting to folk recipes along with traditional treatment. For instance:

Trays with chamomile decoction are a very popular and effective remedy for hemorrhoids. Herbal enemas are often prescribed. A sea buckthorn oil compress works well. It has a hemostatic and softening effect. Warm oil is applied to a cotton swab and applied overnight.
Helminthiasis can be cured with onion infusion. The vegetable is finely chopped and poured with warm water. Drink on an empty stomach the next morning. The recipe consisting of a mixture of garlic and milk is very popular. Before using it, you must definitely consult a doctor, since garlic affects the mucous membrane and.
Polyps can also be cured with folk remedies such as celandine herb. Given the fact that celandine is a poisonous plant, its use is possible only under the supervision of a doctor. Instead of "dangerous" herbs, you can use a mixture of horseradish and honey, which also helps to treat polyps.
A decoction of nettle will help stop bleeding. This plant has unique properties and has many useful substances in its chemical composition. For the same purposes, parents often use orange broth, which children drink much more willingly. Orange bark helps stop bleeding.

For any disease that provokes the appearance, it is necessary to use folk recipes only after consulting a doctor.

For parents, even the smallest changes in the health and behavior of the baby are always shocking. When a child has blood in his stool, moms and dads get scared. But more often this symptom is not evidence of a complex and dangerous disease. There is no need to ignore this symptom. Its reasons can be very different. And the first step is to immediately contact a specialist.
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Often, children experience minor bleeding from the anus. However, they do not in any way affect the well-being of the child. But only a doctor has the opportunity to professionally, using modern diagnostic studies, to determine the exact cause of this phenomenon.

Blood in the feces of a child: causes

In a baby's feces, blood can appear from 2 sources:

IMPORTANT! Upper GI bleeding isn't the only thing that turns the stool black.

There are a number of drugs, substances and foods that cause the same effect. Among them:

berries: blueberries, black currants, irga, etc.;
chocolate;
iron preparations;
beet;
some types of antibiotics;
confectionery gelatin;
medicines for the stomach;
Activated carbon.

Lower GI tract (rectum, anus, and large intestine). Then the blood will be visible either on the surface of the discharge, or in their thickness. In this case, it will be whole blood of red color.

It is not always possible to understand where rectal bleeding comes from, relying solely on external examination of feces. Most often, a thorough examination of the child will be required.

The most common causes of blood in a baby's stool are:

It is not worthwhile to diagnose your baby on your own. It is important to call an ambulance or see a doctor right away.

Mucus with blood in the stool of a child

If a small child often has small inclusions of mucus (greenish or transparent) in the fecal massage, there is no need to worry. This is evidence that the baby is in a transitional stage. Anxiety should be caused by feces with mucus and other symptoms:

An abundance of mucus, especially if it is brown or green;
Blood impurities;
The color of the stool is green;
Bad smell from feces;
Stool is watery or foamy.

All these signs indicate the presence of pathologies:

Did you find feces with mucus and bloody impurities in a child? You should immediately call a pediatrician. Only a professional will identify the correct cause of the problem and prescribe an effective therapy.

The child has blood in the stool: what to do?

It is sometimes possible to find out why a baby has feces with blood with the help of a rectal examination with the help of fingers. At the same time, the doctor inserts a finger into the child's anus and carefully feels everything. However, this event is often not enough. Therefore, detailed diagnostic procedures are required.

ATTENTION! Contacting a specialist when feces with blood appear is a must. You can not self-medicate. Moreover, it is not recommended to use folk remedies. This will only make the situation worse!

You can find out the cause of bleeding from the rectal passage by going through several important steps:

Treatment of blood in the stool will largely depend on the cause of its appearance.

IMPORTANT! If the child has minor bloody discharge from the anus, or they have gone confused for a short amount of time on their own, it is still necessary to be examined by a specialist!

If the situation is serious, diarrhea with blood appears suddenly, the child is restless, the baby should be reassured and immediately call an ambulance or your doctor. Before the arrival of a specialist, the following measures must be taken:

If there is constipation, the baby can be given a small amount of a laxative;
To calm, stop bleeding, you cannot apply cold objects to the baby's tummy. If there is an inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract, this will negatively affect the patient's condition;
You can help a child eliminate constipation, provoke the passage of feces by stroking the baby's tummy. In this case, the hand must be always warm. And the movements are carried out clockwise. The process must take at least 30 minutes. These movements begin to stimulate the production of mucus in the intestines. It is she who softens the feces and helps him get out;
It is not advisable to feed the child before the arrival of the doctor. The baby's digestion is fast. Therefore, feeding will only provoke bowel movements and aggravate an already serious problem.

If blood in the feces is observed in infants, then as a preventive measure, it is the mother who must follow some rules for compiling her diet:

Spicy foods are unacceptable;
Alcohol should be avoided;
You can not eat fast food and excessively fatty foods;
In the best way, the baby's condition will be affected by the mother's transition to natural food, which will be free of carcinogens, flavors and preservatives.

These simple rules will help reduce the risk of negative influences on a very vulnerable child's body.

Traces of blood in the stool of a child: Reviews of readers

Valentina Galkina, 42 years old, Moscow:“My child had a crack. At the same time, he cocoa was tight, and the feces were very hard and large. From experience I know several urgent measures. They help a lot: sea buckthorn candles, you can drink Duphalac to relax the intestines. We still kept a constant diet, ate foods with bifidobacteria. And, of course, nobody canceled the doctor! "

Irina Petrovskaya, 28 years old, Novorossiysk:“At the age of 9 months, my daughter constantly had watery stools with blood. What we just didn’t do. And in the hospital they lay down with a beating for desentiria, and were treated with antibiotics. The doctors could not understand anything. So they would have wandered, probably, if they hadn't accidentally got to a real specialist. Therefore, I recommend first of all to find a professional doctor !!! Because today they are in trouble. The result we have is a lack of bifidobacteria. Special drug and diet - and everything is fine now. "

Glinskaya Victoria, 31 years old, Krasnoyarsk:“My baby constantly had small specks of caked blood with poop. Of course she was scared. Okay, we have a good surgeon at our clinic. We go straight to him. There were cracks in the pope. I only smeared with vaseline oil. It's all gone. "

Nadezhla Maslikova, 23 years old, Novosibirsk: “We had dysbiosis at exactly 1 month. The feces were not only with blood, but also with mucus and even milk. We did all the tests and found out the reason. The pediatrician prescribed Eubiotics and Amoxiclav for us. "

Ivanova Stefania, 43 years old, Izhevsk: " Blood in the stool, I think, is a very serious symptom. We urgently need to run to the doctor so that it doesn't get worse. And then only a professional must decide how and what to treat. I think that you should always trust the specialists. It is better not to prescribe medications on your own. "

Larionova Adel, 34 years old, Ivanovo:“My boy had a fractured rectum. We were prescribed a diet, hygienic procedures (5 times a day, washed the bottom with warm water), special ointments. We also did enemas using rosehip oil. Nothing dangerous. After about a month, the blood in the stool stopped appearing. "

Blood in the stool of a child: Video

The appearance of blood in the feces is a sign of many diseases and pathological conditions of various parts of the gastrointestinal tract. Moreover, such a symptom can be considered unfavorable and indicative of severe damage to the mucosa, submucosa and even the muscular wall of the oral cavity, esophagus, stomach and intestinal tube.

Blood in the stool may be visible to the eye or require specific laboratory tests to detect it. Visible spotting is characteristic of inflammation or damage to areas located at the level of the intestine. The so-called altered or occult blood enters the feces from the overlying parts of the gastrointestinal tract.

If blood is visible in the stool - the reasons

Cracked anus

The most typical situation becomes when bright scarlet blood appears in the feces or on the surface of the feces. This is evidence of a crack in the anus, which occurs with chronic constipation and excessive straining during the act of defecation. A fissure can be accompanied by discomfort after a bowel movement in the anus. The bleeding is not profuse and may recur over several days.

It is diagnosed by routine surgical examination and by digital examination of the rectum. During treatment, it is necessary to establish regular bowel movements (diet) and treat the patient with suppositories with sea buckthorn oil or Anusol for a week.

Haemorrhoids

If blood appears on the surface of the feces up to several times a month, darker than with a crack, and the patient has severe pain, itching, a feeling of fullness in the rectal area, then it is worth suspecting varicose veins of the rectum (hemorrhoids). Such a disease develops against the background of the fact that the veins in this area do not have valves and with any chronic increases in intra-abdominal pressure they are easily overstretched and can be damaged, causing bleeding.

When viewed in the anus, hemorrhagic nodes are visible (see) or similar formations are found when examining the rectum with a rectoscope (see).

There are two options for treating the disease. Conservatively, hemorrhoids are fought in the early stages, using venotonics (tablets, venoruton, venolan, ginkor forte, troxerutin, dragees and drops of escuzan, antistax ointments or gels, venitan, troxevasin) or venosclerosing agents that exclude a number of veins from the bloodstream (suppositories, hepatothrombin ethoxysclerol). Additionally, they use local anesthetics, laxatives, anticoagulants, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.

Surgical treatment is resorted to routinely with advanced hemorrhoids or on urgent grounds with profuse and prolonged rectal bleeding.

Nonspecific ulcerative colitis

An interesting phenomenon is represented by viral hemorrhagic fevers (Crimean, Omsk, Central Asian) in which, against the background of damage to small vessels, a hemorrhagic rash appears on the body and bleeding, including intestinal. Another viral infection of the large intestine, for which fever, bloody diarrhea and abdominal pain are typical, is cytomegalovirus.

Oncological processes give a clinic of intestinal obstruction, diagnosed using a plain X-ray of the abdominal cavity (a characteristic symptom of gas bubbles, "Kloyber cups") or intestinal bleeding with destruction of blood vessels or the intestinal wall. Intestinal perforation may also occur with the development of fecal inflammation of the peritoneum. Treatment in such situations is operative, involving resection of a part of the intestine and stopping bleeding by electrocoagulation or suturing of the vessels or the intestinal wall.

Intestinal dysbiosis

Intestinal dysbiosis associated with taking antibiotics is called the syndrome of excessive bacterial colonization of the intestine. The most typical variant is pseudomembranous colitis after a course of tetracyclines, clindamycin or aminoglycosides. Diarrhea and blood in the stool occurs when the cause is damage to the intestine by Clostridia. For treatment, vancomycin, metronidazole and bactrim are prescribed.

STI

A group of sexually transmitted infections (herpes, anorectal syphilis, rectal gonorrhea, venereal granuloma) can also lead to damage to the rectal mucosa and appear with blood on the stool surface.

Ischemic colitis - oxygen starvation of the intestinal wall of the colon due to atherosclerotic damage to the arteries. Most often, the mesenteric arteries are damaged, which disrupt the nutrition of the left colon. Oxygen starvation of tissues leads to acute pain in the abdomen, as well as the appearance of erosions of the intestinal wall, which become a source of bleeding. Differential diagnosis and first aid for ischemia consists in the patient taking nitroglycerin, which relieves pain.

Causes of occult blood in feces

The blood that enters the stool from the upper digestive tract has time to change "along the way". Hemoglobin, which is part of it, breaks down and turns into iron sulfate, which gives the feces a black color. Such a chair is called melena.

Bleeding from varicose veins of the esophagus

It is characteristic of the accompanying portal hypertension syndrome. In addition to tarry stools, this pathology is characterized by chest pain, aggravated after eating, repeated vomiting of blood. Drop in blood pressure, tachycardia, sweating. The condition is urgent and is stopped by the introduction of a special balloon probe into the esophagus that presses the veins.

Mallory-Weiss syndrome

This is a bleeding fissure of the esophagus or cardiac part of the stomach that occurs during repeated vomiting and reaches the submucosa. Most often, this problem is encountered by drinkers or persons with a perforation of an ulcer of the inlet part of the stomach. Pain syndrome in the projection of the esophagus is combined with melena. Treatment includes aminocaproic acid, bed rest, and intramuscular cerucal.

Bleeding from a stomach or duodenal ulcer

can also cause tarry stools. With extensive bleeding, liquid black stools are observed up to several times a day, nausea, chills. Fainting may occur. Gastric bleeding is accompanied by brown vomiting ("coffee grounds"). Surgical treatment is reduced to resection of a part of the stomach or duodenum or suturing of an ulcer.

Duodenal ulcer perforation

may be accompanied by simultaneous bleeding from a mirror ulcer on the opposite wall of the intestine ("kissing ulcers"). In this case, acute dagger pain in the right half of the epigastrium will be combined with signs of ongoing bleeding: weakness, sweating, palpitations, loss of consciousness. The patient is saved only by emergency laparotomy with suturing of the ulcer or bowel resection (see)

Stomach cancer, characterized by fast satiety, aversion to meat, weakness, anemia, and wasting, can also be complicated by bleeding.
Decaying tumors of the esophagus can also cause bleeding and altered blood in the stool.
Periodontal disease (see)
Intestinal tuberculosis

Diagnostics of the altered blood in the stool

Minor bleeding with wounds and ulcerations of the oral mucosa, after tooth extraction, with bleeding from the esophagus, stomach, duodenum and the initial segment of the jejunum may not cause visual changes in stool, but are determined in feces using a laboratory test.

This analysis is called the Gregersen reaction. In order to make the test as reliable as possible, the patient is prohibited from brushing his teeth, eating meat and fish, and iron supplements three days before the test. Then the feces are collected. Benzidine with barium peroxide, dissolved in acetic acid, is applied to a stool smear on a glass slide and the color change is observed. When a blue or green color appears, the reaction is considered positive.

Reasons for the presence of blood in feces in a child

Children can suffer from the same pathologies of the gastrointestinal tract as adults. Thus, everything described above applies to them. However, in children's practice, there are the most typical conditions for detecting blood in the stool, which should be remembered and a certain amount of caution should be exercised about them.

Intestinal dysbiosis (intestinal bacterial overgrowth syndrome)

Against the background of irrational feeding of children under one year old, unreasonable or frequent antibiotic treatment, inaccuracies in the immune protection of infants, quite often mothers and pediatricians have to deal with the phenomena of liquid stool with blood impurities. These are streaks of blood in the child's stool that can combine with mucus. Bloating is also observed (see, loss of appetite, diathesis. Most often, enterocolitis of staphylococcal or Klebsiella origin is to blame.

Fissures in the rectum often accompany another manifestation of intestinal dysbiosis - constipation, which can be the cause of the possible appearance of blood in the stool in a child (see). Dysbiosis treatment is carried out according to the scheme given above. Also, constipation accompanies rickets and an unbalanced diet (see).

Therefore, it is important for children in the first two years of life to regulate the preventive or therapeutic intake of vitamin D and supplement them with a sufficient amount of liquid (for artificial people - the volume of one feeding, distributed per day). Treatment is reduced to the settlement of the stool with diet or the appointment of Lactulose (, Normase) and the use of suppositories with sea buckthorn oil.

Intestinal obstruction

The most formidable reasons for the presence of blood in the feces in babies under two years old are intestinal intussusception and intestinal obstruction. This condition can be both a consequence of a congenital anomaly (incomplete rotation of the intestinal tube), and overfeeding of the baby, changing the mixture, prescribing kefir in children in the first three months of life, too early and unbalanced complementary foods (see). With invaginate, one part of the intestine is, as it were, soldered into the wall of the other, blocking its lumen and causing partial intestinal obstruction.

The child begins to scream a lot after eating, one day he spits up profusely with a fountain (see), often begins to poop liquidly and mixed with blood. Within a few hours or a day, the feces turn into a lump of red mucus. If during this period of time you do not call an ambulance or go to a surgical hospital by self-propelled person, the child will stop eating and drinking, fall into a state of collapse or shock and may die.

The most interesting thing is that in a child under one year old, such a formidable condition can be determined using ultrasound of the abdominal cavity or with a plain radiograph, and eliminated with a simple barium enema, avoiding abdominal surgery. True, laparotomy is performed for older children.

Food allergy

Allergy in a child is such a frequent occurrence today, it can be on any food:

most often on cow's milk protein (see)
citrus (see)
for gluten (see)
various food additives, flavors, dyes, etc.

Sometimes food allergies can manifest itself as skin reactions, diarrhea, foamy stools, bloody stools (blotches, streaks), small children become whiny, restless, and gain weight poorly.

Thus, having found blood in the feces of an infant, you should immediately contact a pediatrician. In the event that the child has:

frequent loose stools
vomiting or regurgitation in a fountain (more often than in a third of all feedings)
increased temperature
the child is too agitated or overly inhibited

it is advisable to call an ambulance team or go to the admission department of a children's infectious diseases hospital, whose doctors have higher qualifications and experience in recognizing conditions that threaten the child's life than district pediatricians.

Blood in the stool in a child can be a symptom of many pathological conditions. Some of them do not pose a particular threat to the health of the baby, while others require timely medical intervention. In any case, having found such manifestations, parents should immediately contact a doctor who will determine the cause. Consider what are the main reasons for this condition and how dangerous they are for children.

Blood in the feces of an infant

Blood in the baby's stool may be indicated by a change in the color of his stool up to black.

A rather dangerous condition is late melena (black, watery, homogeneous feces), which can be observed at 2-3 weeks of a baby's life. It is accompanied by a significant deterioration in the general condition of the child and indicates the development of some serious diseases. Late melena is a symptom jaundice, hemorrhagic disease of newborns, sepsis and other complex pathologies. All these diseases require treatment in a hospital setting.

Streaks of blood in the stool of a child under one year old may indicate food allergies... This could be an allergy to cow's milk or other foods. Against the background of an allergic reaction of the body, the intestinal mucous tissue becomes highly inflamed. The vessels passing into the mucous membrane become very fragile and begin to bleed. In addition to stool streaked with blood, in this case, the baby may have diarrhea, poor sleep, and frequent anxiety. A timely visit to a doctor and the implementation of all his recommendations will help get rid of this problem.

A common cause of blood in the stool in a newborn is the occurrence of cracks in the rectal mucosa near the anus. They appear with prolonged hard stools (fecal stones), which come out sharply, usually accompanied by flatulence. The baby's delicate intestinal wall is damaged, which leads to the appearance of blood in the stool. In such a situation, it is necessary to monitor the nutrition of the nursing mother or baby. Normalization of feces promotes healing of cracks and prevents the appearance of new ones.

Very loose stools with mucus and large blood streaks may be a sign infectious diseases of the large intestine, which are caused by the simplest microorganisms, such as amebiasis, shigellosis. A sick child does not feel well, shows signs of anxiety, constantly cries. Treatment of such diseases is carried out by a doctor, in severe cases, children are placed in a hospital.

Blood in the stool of a breastfed baby, especially a bottle-fed baby, may indicate development intestinal intussusception... This pathology is a volvulus of one part of the intestine into the lumen of another. Intussusception of the intestine is accompanied by the formation of feces with an admixture of blood, which experts call "raspberry jelly" because of the similarity to it in consistency and color. With intestinal volvulus, the baby becomes restless, he vomits. In this case, it is very important to urgently call an ambulance.

Sometimes the appearance of drops of red blood in the stool of an infant can cause helminthic invasion... At the same time, the child often has diarrhea, itching in the anus, and abdominal pain. If there is no timely treatment, the baby has a decrease in body weight. Therapy of helminthic invasion does not cause difficulties, the main thing is to consult a doctor in time.

Blood in the stool in a child over one year old

In children over the age of one year, blood in the stool can also be observed with food allergies and helminthic infestation. In addition, there are other reasons for its appearance:

Bleeding that develops in the lower parts of the digestive system - from anal fissures, hemorrhoids with hemorrhoids. In this case, you can see bright red fresh blood in the stool. Sometimes, blood remains on toilet paper or underwear.
Bleeding that appears in the upper parts of the digestive system - stomach, duodenum, esophagus. In this case, the feces become black, which is a symptom of a peptic ulcer of these organs.
Intestinal infections such as salmonellosis, dysentery. In this case, streaks of blood appear in the feces. The stool has a liquid consistency and is accompanied by intense abdominal pain and fever.
Chronic inflammatory bowel disease, in particular, dysbiosis, ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease. A sign of the development of these diseases is feces with dark red clots or blood streaks.
Acute infections - adenoviral diseases, parvovirus enteritis.

What to do if blood is found in a child's stool

Often, parents panic when they see traces of blood in the baby's feces. However, first of all, you need to make sure that it is blood. The appearance of red inclusions or even dark feces does not always indicate bleeding. Often, certain foods and medicines give this color to the stool.

The feces can turn raspberry after eating beets. Semi-digested remains of tomatoes, currants and blueberries look like blood clots. Various desserts and drinks containing food coloring can also change the color of the stool. Certain medications (iron, activated charcoal) cause dark stools.

Painful defecation with blood in some cases can indicate the development of serious diseases that require urgent diagnosis and treatment.

Causes

The most common reasons are:

Anal fissures.
Crohn's disease.
Infectious contamination.
Juvenile polyps.
Helminthic invasion.
Hirschsprung's disease and others.

If one of these pathologies is diagnosed, immediate treatment is required, the direction of which will be indicated by the attending physician.

Other reasons why stools can change their color and turn dark shades include:

Eating certain foods such as chocolate, beets, black currants, edible gelatin, bird cherry, etc.
Taking some medications that cause a non-specific reaction of the body (more often these are antibiotics, drugs with bismuth, activated carbon, etc.).

In such situations, the state of the child's health should not cause fears among the parents, but for greater confidence that everything is in order, you need to consult a specialist.

Should you panic and run to the doctor?

First you need to remember what the child ate a few hours before the appearance of problems with defecation; have any medications been taken.

For example, bird cherry jam can cause severe constipation (or bird cherry berries that a child swallowed with seeds), while beets, on the contrary, in excess, cause loosening of the stool and diarrhea. In both cases, the chair takes on an unusual color. These foods can cause painful symptoms and poor well-being if consumed in excessive quantities. Small portions of food do not cause such phenomena and only stain the feces in an unusual color.

In order for the child to feel vigorous and healthy again, these products should be temporarily excluded from the diet. It is necessary to consult a doctor in such situations if other alarming symptoms, such as nausea, vomiting, weakness, etc., join the child's complaints of pain during emptying.

Associated symptoms

But it happens that, in addition to blood in the feces, the child:

The temperature rises.
There are complaints of severe headaches.
The skin turns red, a rash or hives may appear.
Confusion of consciousness is observed.
Emptying does not occur for several days.
Defecation is accompanied by sharp pain in the anus and abdominal cramps.
In the feces, in addition to blood, helminths are found.

If at least a few of the above signs appear, the child's condition requires an urgent visit to the doctor.

What diseases more often lead to the appearance of blood in the stool?

Anal fissures

The introduction of a new product into the daily menu, a change in diet, the use of flour products, meat, chicken eggs, etc., belonging to the category of "heavy", hard-to-digest food - can cause constipation in a child. Their appearance is also facilitated by a small amount of fluid entering the body daily. In the intestine, dense feces are formed, the movement of which is difficult. Emptying may occur less frequently than usual (once every few days) and be accompanied by severe pain.

While the feces are in the intestine, the process of absorption of substances through its walls continues, and the feces become even more dense and not plastic. During emptying, the child pushes strongly, small cracks and wounds appear on the intestinal mucosa and anus, and the blood, together with a lump of feces, comes out. Painful bowel movements do not go unnoticed. If the urge to go to the toilet again arises, the cracks in the anus that did not have time to heal make themselves felt with cutting pain. The child has a fear of going to the toilet.

Crohn's disease

The stool, in which threads of bright scarlet blood are found, report pathologies in the lower intestine: the colon and rectum, the anus.

Dark-colored feces indicate the formation of granulomas and longitudinal ulcers in the small intestine and stomach. Crohn's disease can affect any part of the digestive tract, from the mouth to the anus. The focus of inflammation, which forms in the small intestine or in the place where the small intestine passes into the large intestine, bleeds, and the blood reacts with the enzymes of the gastrointestinal tract, turning into hematin hydrochloric acid (dark clots). Therefore, the feces are also colored in a dark shade.

Infectious contamination

Pathogenic bacteria and viruses entering the intestines suppress the activity of beneficial microflora and cause rapidly developing inflammatory processes on the mucous membrane. The disease is accompanied by high fever during an exacerbation, dysbiosis, diarrhea or constipation, general weakness.

If a child suffers from diarrhea, he is tormented by nausea and vomiting, there is a danger of dehydration. The mucous membranes become dry, the skin becomes hot. Treatment can only be prescribed by a doctor. An admixture of blood in the stool may indicate a complicated form of the disease, which requires immediate examination and finding out the exact cause of the pathology.

Juvenile polyps

Healthy intestinal mucosa is smooth and moist. Goblet cells form a healthy epithelium that does not obstruct the movement of feces. Juvenile polyps are benign growths of connective tissue that grows rapidly in the epithelial layer. In appearance, they look like semicircular elevations attached to the epithelial layer with a wide base or leg. By themselves, they do not cause painful sensations. It can only be detected with a special examination.

But when the stool moves along the area where the polyps are located, the hard stool particles scratch the bulges on the mucous membrane, which begin to bleed. The intestinal surface at the sites of juvenile polyp lesions is similar to a cobblestone pavement, and despite muscle contractions, feces get stuck in a difficult-to-pass area. The last liquid from it is absorbed by the intestinal walls, and the dense contents turn into a solid lump. The situation is even more complicated.

Helminthic invasion

With advanced stages of the disease, the situation is complicated, causing general intoxication of the body and severe bleeding.

Hirschsprung's disease

This is a very serious illness that can progress rapidly over time and cause intestinal obstruction. In a certain part of the intestine, there is no innervation, that is, in this segment it ceases to perform its function. Peristalsis is completely absent, and feces accumulate in the "dead" zone, causing a gradual stretching of the intestinal walls. The disease can be inherited. If you do not start timely treatment, in 80% of cases the situation ends in death.

Treatment - what the doctors prescribe

Specialists prescribe treatment depending on the cause of the disease.

An allergic reaction to the components contained in formula milk can lead to blood clots in the child's stool. The artificial blend often contains soy protein. It is he who becomes the cause of the pathology. Stool accompanied by bleeding can also cause breast milk in the baby if the mother consumes products containing soy protein (some mothers themselves gladly feast on infant formula).

A child's body that does not produce enough enzymes cannot break down soy protein into nutrient components. As a result, there are signs of individual food intolerance, diarrhea, constipation, bleeding, etc.

Also, the causes of blood in the feces in an infant can be all of the above diseases.

What is occult blood in the stool of a child?

This phenomenon is called - sideropenia... It does not manifest itself through external signs, since the bleeding is mild, but continues constantly. Thus, unbeknownst to himself, the child loses a large amount of blood. If it is stomach bleeding, the baby can vomit with dark contents, resembling coffee grounds. This is blood that clotted under the influence of hydrochloric acid.

Intestinal or stomach bleeding manifests itself through signs of anemia: the skin turns pale, the child gets tired quickly, the level of hemoglobin in the blood drops, a state of general weakness does not allow the child to engage in active games. An immediate examination of the body is required, which will include EGD, coprogram, palpation, sigmoidoscopy, etc.

You cannot ignore such an alarming symptom as blood clots in the stool of a child and let the situation take its course. This symptom may indicate minor damage to the tissues of the anus, but in some cases it is a formidable signal indicating a pathological condition that requires immediate intervention of medical specialists in the fate of the baby.