How to care for congenital heart disease?

  1. A reasonable living system should be arranged for the affected child, both to enhance exercise and improve the body’s resistance, and to take proper rest and avoid overexertion. If the child is competent, he or she should try to live and study with normal children, but should prevent strenuous activities. At the same time, children should be educated to have confidence in the treatment of the disease and reduce pessimism and fear.  2. Indoor air should be circulated. Windows should be opened regularly in winter to enhance air convection. Children with persistent cyanosis should avoid high indoor temperature, which may lead to sweating and dehydration.  3. Give a high protein, high calorie, vitamin-rich diet to enhance physical fitness. Avoid eating too much. Children with cyanotic heart disease should be given enough water to avoid dehydration that may lead to thrombosis.  4. Infants with congenital heart disease are more difficult to feed, and they are often prone to shortness of breath when sucking and stop sucking, and they are prone to vomit and sweat a lot, so a dropper can be used when feeding to reduce the physical exertion of the child. After feeding, lay down gently on your side to prevent vomit inhalation and asphyxia.  5.Avoid emotional excitement of the child, try not to make the child cry, reduce unnecessary stimulation, so as not to increase the burden on the heart.  6.Keep the bowel movement smooth. For children with cyanotic type, do not use too much force when passing stool, so as not to increase the burden on the heart. If there is no stool for two days, you can use open plug laxative to pass stool.  7, congenital heart disease children are prohibited to infuse a large number of fluids, if you must infuse, the drip rate must be slow to prevent increased heart burden, resulting in heart failure.  8, the child with tetralogy of Fallot’s more squatting position, in walking or playing will often take the initiative to squat for a moment. This is because squatting can make the symptoms of hypoxia relieved, if the child has this phenomenon, parents must not force the child to pull up.  9.For children who usually have good heart function and activity endurance, they should receive vaccination according to the time, but after vaccination, they should observe more systemic and local reactions for timely treatment.  10.Children with congenital heart disease are weak and prone to infections, especially respiratory diseases, and are prone to heart failure, so they should be carefully taken care of and their clothes should be increased or decreased with the change of seasons. If a family member has an upper respiratory tract infection, isolation measures should be taken, and children should be taken to public places as little as possible. Once the child becomes infected, the infection should be actively controlled.  11. If the child is found to have shortness of breath, irritability, rapid heart rate, difficulty in breathing and other symptoms, heart failure may occur, should be sent to the hospital promptly.