Chronic diarrhea of infancy
Chronic diarrhea of infancy, also called toddler's diarrhea, is a common condition typically affecting children between ages 6–30 months, usually resolving by age 4.[1] Symptoms include multiple loose bowel movements per day, sometimes with undigested food visible; normal growth with no evidence of malnutrition; and no evidence blood in the stool or infection. The condition may be related to irritable bowel syndrome.[1]
Differential diagnoses
Before a diagnosis of toddler's diarrhea is made, the following conditions should be ruled out:[2]
- Celiac sprue (wheat gluten intolerance)
- Cystic fibrosis
- Sugar malabsorption
- Food allergy
Treatment
Treatment is primarily through diet. Dietary fiber and fat can be increased and fluid intake, especially fruit juice intake, decreased. With these considerations, the patient should consume a normal balanced diet to avoid malnutrition or growth restriction.[1] Medications such as loperamide should not be used.[1][2] Studies have shown that certain probiotic preparations such as Lactobacillus rhamnosus (a bacterium) and Saccharomyces boulardii (a yeast) may be effective at reducing symptoms.[3][4]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Diarrhea in Children at Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy Professional Edition
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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