Abdominal pain in children in the lower abdomen
Infectious gastrointestinal diseases can also lead to abdominal pain in the left lower abdomen in children. Regardless of the exact location of the abdominal pain, both bacterial and viral gastrointestinal diseases are usually accompanied by diarrhoea and vomiting. However, especially in children, these symptoms can only appear several hours after the onset of abdominal pain on the left side of the lower abdomen.
In addition, some of the affected children develop severe vomiting without changing the consistency of their stools, while in other affected children enormous diarrhoea can be observed without vomiting. Infectious gastrointestinal diseases in children leading to abdominal pain on the left side of the lower abdomen are much more often caused by viral rather than bacterial pathogens. For this reason, antibiotic therapy makes little sense in most cases.
Another cause of abdominal pain on the left side of the lower abdomen in children can be a so-called “hernia”. The term “hernia” refers to a condition in which the abdominal viscera leak out through the abdominal wall. As a rule, congenital weak points in the musculature are the ideal point of entry.
On the basis of the localisation of the occurrence this disease is divided into two forms: the inner and the outer hernia. In cases where the hernial sac is visible from the outside or the hernial orifice leads from the inside of the body towards the skin, this is called an external hernia. Hernias that lie within the trunk and for this reason cannot be seen from the outside are called internal hernias.
A hernia can cause a number of symptoms in the affected children. At the beginning of the disease a conspicuous lump begins to form on the abdominal wall. When pressing or screaming, it can also be observed that there is a significant increase in volume in the area of the hernia sac.
A hernia does not necessarily cause pain in children. Unproblematic courses of disease are even rarely accompanied by abdominal pain. A hernia which nevertheless causes abdominal pain on the left or right side of the lower abdomen must be surgically treated within a very short time.
In these cases there is a risk of a so-called incarceration of the hernia. The parts of the intestine in the hernial sac are therefore pinched off at the exit port. The problem with this situation is the fact that these pinched off parts of the intestine are usually only insufficiently (or no longer) supplied with blood.
In addition, an acute inflammation of the appendix (appendicitis) can cause abdominal pain on the left side of the lower abdomen. Typically, the abdominal pain felt by children affected by appendicitis is localised in the right lower abdomen. In fact, however, the symptoms of appendicitis usually begin in the region of the navel before migrating to the lower abdomen.
Children who have a malpositioned appendix or in whom the appendix is several centimetres long can, however, report abdominal pain in the left lower abdomen in the presence of inflammatory processes. The treatment of acute appendicitis in children is also carried out by surgical removal of the affected areas. The so-called “invagination” is also one of the typical diseases in small children, which can provoke abdominal pain in the left or right lower abdomen.
Invagination is a disease in which a higher-situated section of the intestine is inverted into a lower-situated section. This phenomenon mainly affects parts of the early small intestine that protrude into the large intestine. Children who suffer from intussusception usually experience sudden severe abdominal pain on the right or left side of the lower abdomen.
In addition, especially small children and infants appear restless and anxious in the presence of an intussusception. At the beginning of the disease, the surface of the abdominal cavity appears to be clearly sunken. In the further course of the disease, however, constipation occurs, which makes the abdomen appear increasingly bloated. An intussusception that leads to severe abdominal pain on the right or left side of the lower abdomen must be treated immediately.
