Causes in babies and children | Causes of vomiting

Causes in babies and children

The vomiting center of the body, which controls the process of vomiting, is located in the medulla oblongata. This is a part of the brain stem and is located between the brain and the spinal cord as a transition. The vomiting center can be more easily excited in young people.

Therefore, irritation and vomiting are more common in infants and children than in adults. On the one hand, vomiting can be harmless, as is often the case with babies after the consumption of breast milk or food. On the other hand, vomiting can be a symptom that indicates an underlying disease that may require medical treatment.

The most likely diseases are those of the gastrointestinal tract. However, organs that are not located in the abdominal cavity can also be responsible for vomiting, as is the case with meningitis, brain swelling or a tumor in the head. This is due to the increased intracranial pressure caused by the disease and acting on the so-called area postrema.

This “measuring station” is located in the cerebrospinal fluid system, the area of the brain where the cerebral fluid is located. The area postrema reacts to increased pressure as well as to contact with toxins by triggering the nausea stimulus. However, a brain disease should not be assumed immediately when a baby or child vomits, since such disease patterns usually present complex symptoms.

When classifying the causes of vomiting, it is possible to differentiate both in the type of vomiting and the age of the patient. Harmless types are belching and spitting, which often have no disease value and can only be explained by the intake of food. As the body of a child is still developing, it is more likely than in adults that food will find its way back into the oral cavity.

If the vomit comes out in gushes, i.e. with great pressure and in large quantities, this can be an indication of an obstruction of the intestine (e.g. atresia of the small intestine) or the stomach outlet (pyloric stenosis). The oesophagus, the esophagus, works without restriction and does not hinder the process of vomiting.If, on the other hand, the process appears flaccid, a closure of the esophagus (oesophageal atresia) could be the cause.

In newborns, frequent causes are the already mentioned occlusions of the small intestine or the esophagus, but also the incorrect rotation of the intestinal loops during embryonic development. This leads to a blockage of the lumen of the intestine and also to occlusion symptoms. Rarely, constipation of the intestine with very tough fetal stool (meconium ileus), a disturbance of the metabolism or a cerebral hemorrhage is the cause of the symptomatology.

Infants vomit more frequently due to infections – both gastroenteritis (gastroenteritis) and urinary tract infections can trigger vomiting. A disturbed diet, whether due to non-infant food or another underlying disease, pyloric stenosis and invaginations of the intestinal tract (intussusception) can also trigger the clinical picture. While the above-mentioned causes account for the majority of cases, the following diseases are not so often the trigger: heart failure, diseases of the brain (infections, space-occupying processes such as bleeding and tumors) and poisoning.

Infections and inflammatory processes of various organs continue to come to the fore in small children and schoolchildren. Frequently, gastrointestinal infections (gastroenteritis), appendicitis (actually inflammation of the appendix appendix appendix, but not commonly called appendicitis), pneumonia, pyelonephritis and urinary tract infections cause vomiting. Food allergies, which are not known and therefore have not yet been considered, are also an important cause of vomiting in advanced childhood.

The increasing independence of children also increases the risk of injuries. A craniocerebral trauma can be caused by falls, the symptoms of which also include vomiting. Among the rather unlikely causes, inflammation of the liver tissue (hepatitis) and infection with scarlet fever must be added to those already mentioned in infants.