Pyelonephritis in children is a serious kidney disease. About half of the cases of this disease occur in early childhood. Below we will talk about
pyelonephritis, symptoms, treatment in children of this disease and describe preventive measures.
Pyelonephritis at an early age
Pyelonephritis is an inflammatory disease in which the renal pelvis and adjacent tissues are affected, it is one of the most common childhood diseases of the excretory system. In babies of the first five years of life, it occurs 3 times more often than in school children. If the inflammatory process occurs for the first time, then this condition is called "acute pyelonephritis." It is allowed within 1-2 months, that is, the child recovers. If the inflammation lasts six months or more, accompanied by exacerbations, then the disease has passed into a chronic stage. Symptoms of pyelonephritis in a child at this moment can disappear for a while.
Among the causative agents of kidney infection, microorganisms prevail in the intestine and form its internal flora. But for one reason or another, they can get into the kidneys through the urinary tract. The most common causative agents of pyelonephritis are Proteus, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterococci, Staphylococcus aureus. Of great importance in the development of pyelonephritis in young children is the presence in the family of relatives who have undergone such a disease. Also, launched caries of children's teeth is a hotbed of the spread of pathogenic bacteria. The source can be tonsillitis, pneumonia, intestinal dysbiosis, chronic constipation.
Symptomatology
It must be said right away that the
symptoms of pyelonephritis in a child up to a year are usually expressed by general intoxication. They can begin to manifest as lethargy, lack of appetite, fever without pronounced catarrhal symptoms, frequent regurgitation, intestinal dysfunction. But these are not the main signs by which pyelonephritis in children can be diagnosed. Symptoms Komarovsky - known to many as a pediatrician - also calls more serious. For example, the disease can also begin with urinary disorders, which can be expressed as frequent or more rare urges, their pain, delays in the discharge of urine in the child. All this is accompanied, as a rule, by an increase in body temperature. Symptoms of pyelonephritis in an older child will have a brighter picture.
Diagnostics
Modern diagnostics includes clinical, laboratory and instrumental techniques. As part of laboratory research, the following
tests should be taken
: general blood and urine tests, analysis for the detection of creatinine, glucose, and proteins. If the symptoms of pyelonephritis in a child do not go away, then he is prescribed bed rest, heavy drinking, medications must be prescribed by a nephrologist. In recent years, a new indicator has been introduced into laboratory practice - cystatin C. In case of kidney damage, this protein is excreted in the urine, and it accumulates in the blood, so the amount of cystatin C allows determining the development of renal failure in patients with kidney inflammation. A child who has a history of pyelonephritis should visit a nephrologist every 3 months and regularly take a urine test. With a stable course of the disease, the absence of frequent exacerbations, it is necessary to undergo an ultrasound of the kidneys annually.