Ilium Atresia and Constipation - Children's Health Message Board

Miranda's Mom · 07-23-2004, 11:13 PM

I desperately need some advice. My 3 year old daughter had an ilium atresia and an appendectomy within hours of birth. Due to her surgery, she had reflux. She was on Erythromycin and Zantac for the first year of her life. She was on the Erythromycin due to motility issues with her bowels. She has always had an issue with constipation and upon her release, she was in the ER, Surgeons, or GI's atleast once a week for the first couple months.

I am very fortunate because she loves healthy foods and would prefer a can of peas for lunch than anything else in the house. Watermelon, cantalopes, grapes, and tomatoes are a staple in our house. She drinks tons of apple juice and has very limited amounts of dairy. You would think that with all of those kinds of foods that she wouldn't have a problem stooling. We went to the GI's about 6 weeks ago and they informed me that I needed to increase her fiber intake to atleast 8g per day which completely stopped her stooling. In addition, I was to give her the MiraLax daily. I'm not fond of having her take the MiraLax daily because I worry that her bowels will become dependent on the laxatives. Now, without the laxatives, she isn't stooling and she's begun to spit up mouthfuls of food daily. The surgeons always told me that if the stooling stopped and vomiting started, that I was to rush her immediately to the ER for fear of another blockage. The main problem I see is that even though she has had this surgery and there are always chances that it will reoccur in the future that they don't do follow-ups or testing to guarantee that there aren't any problems that are beginning.

I am searching for anyone who has had a child who had this surgery and if so, if they have had any recurrances and/or complications. I was also curious about the daily use of the laxatives. Any suggestions or advice that anyone has is greatly appreciated.

Miranda's Mom

Ratatosk · 07-26-2004, 02:19 PM

Did they ever give a diagnosis as to why she had atresia? I know there are a couple of genetic disorders which can cause motility issues, although I can't recall what they're called off the top of my head. I'd see about getting a referral to a GI specialist. Let them know this is an ongoing problem

DS was born with atresia, blockage. volvus and some other things which required emergency surgery; however his is caused by cystic fibrosis. And he also takes zantac and has constipation issues -- but not all the time. When it becomes a problem we were told to use Milk of Mag for a few days. Most of the time lately we have the other problem -- he has to take pancreatic enzymes for digestion and if he doesn't get enough of them -- eats something too fatty, it just runs through him

Miranda's Mom · 07-27-2004, 10:29 PM

M also had a blockage. When they performed her surgery, they removed all of her intestines to examine them for the appearance or feel of CF. The surgeon was sure that it was "just a fluke" that they twisted when she was growing. We found her problem when we were 29 weeks (and they were performing the ultrasound to make sure that her choroid plexus cyst was gone) and they watched it very closely (NST and ultrasounds twice a week from 29 to 37 weeks when they induced me. Fridays were always our big tests but the week they took her, her stomach measured out 6 weeks larger than her gestational period. We've seen the GI specialist and are going back on the 5th for another follow up. Has your son ever had any complications from the surgery? Can your son sit straight up when lying on his back on the floor? My daughter still can't do that. She always rolls onto her side and pushes up and she's three. You'd think that by now, they would have recovered. In our follow up, they are going to have to give me serious answers. They told me to increase her fiber intake but once I did, she stopped stooling all together. The only time she passes any stool at all is when the laxatives are in her. They did the blood test for CF but said that it was inconclusive. We did the sweat test but she was too small for the sweat plates; therefore, it was never completely confirmed.

We've had alot of problems with the constipation in the last six months and I cannot pin point why. She's still eating everything the same. Actually, I've pretty much removed the dairy (mainly the cheese that she loves so much) completely out of her diet. I just don't know what to do. I asked the GI's last time about the use of laxatives on a daily basis and worrying that her bowels would become dependent on them but they said that they wouldn't. What do you think? I'm going to try for an ultrasound and xrays to see if there is anything that they can see. I'm so tired of her hurting. She's completely potty trained as far as peeing goes but I cannot get (or ask her) to sit on the potty to have the BM. She walks around the house on her tip toes and then squats for about 30 minutes. She's gotten to the point that she is crying because it hurts so much. That isn't normal and it's just going to get to a point that she won't want to stool because she knows that it hurts.

Thank you so much for your help. I hope that your son is doing well.

Ratatosk · 07-30-2004, 01:29 PM

You know I've never really noticed if he can sit straight up. I usually help pull him up. He spent the first 6 weeks of life on his back (4 with a broviac chest tube) and two with an iv in his head -- so that, on top of his surgery, we just assumbed that's why he didn't like to be on his stomach or like to crawl. He's 14 months old and now I'm always finding him alseep on his tummy.

He throws terrible fits when he poops, not sure if it hurts or he's just mad. His first blood test was inconclusive and his sweat test was normal. However, if I don't give him enough digestive enzymes for his meals or he eats something high in fat -- his stools come out loose and greasy, which is the case with most people who have cf.