What about congenital megacolon?

  Since birth, my baby has been having trouble passing stool. The first 2 days after birth, the baby did not pass fetal stool, the anus was normal, and the doctor instructed the baby to pass stool with corked lotion, which led to more fetal stool being passed, but then the baby still rarely passes stool on its own, and needs to use corked lotion and other aids to pass stool, and the belly gets bigger day by day, and often vomits, and later becomes unmotivated to eat milk, does not gain weight, and has a bloated abdomen like a drum. Beware of congenital megacolon.  The congenital megacolon, also known as ganglion cell-free disease, has no ganglion cells in the intestinal canal (mostly in the rectum and sigmoid colon), so it is in a spastic and narrow state, losing its normal peristaltic and defecation functions, and feces and intestinal gas accumulate in the proximal colon, resulting in secondary expansion and hypertrophy of the proximal colon, gradually forming a megacolon. Congenital megacolon is one of the more common developmental malformations of the gastrointestinal tract in newborns, accounting for the second highest incidence of gastrointestinal malformations, with a prevalence of 1/2000~1/5000 in males, and a familial tendency to develop.  Almost all normal newborns pass the first fetal stool within 24 hours after birth, and the first stool is excreted within 2~3 days. In children with congenital megacolon, because the intestinal canal is spasmodic and narrow, the fetal stool cannot be passed, so no fetal stool is excreted within 24 to 48 hours, or only a small amount is excreted, and more fetal stool must be excreted only after treatment with an open plug or enema. The symptoms of partial or even complete low-level intestinal obstruction usually appear within 2-6 days: vomiting, which may be infrequent and small in amount, but may also be frequent, with bile or fecal-like liquid in the vomit; distended belly, with full abdominal distension, some extremely distended and shiny belly. The symptoms are relieved by assisted laxation, but constipation, bloating and vomiting appear again after a few days. Due to recurrent episodes, children tend to show no weight gain. Complications such as small bowel colitis (with diarrhea), intestinal perforation, and malnutrition may also occur.  Treatment of congenital megacolon includes non-surgical treatment, enterostomy, and radical surgery. Once diagnosed, radical megacolon surgery should generally be performed in order to cure it. Non-surgical treatment is suitable for mild cases, diagnosis is not fully determined and preparation for surgery, etc. The methods include: stimulating the anorectum with a cork, etc. to cause the child to defecate; using saline to cleanse the bowels, etc. Enterostomy is suitable for those with complications of small bowel colitis, intestinal perforation or poor general nutritional status. It is a transitional treatment measure, and about 1~2 months later, radical megacolon surgery will be performed. In recent years, the age of radical megacolon surgery has been advanced from 1~2 years old to 6 months after birth or even earlier, and more and more people are performing stage 1 radical megacolon surgery in the neonatal period, which can avoid complications such as small intestine colitis and malnutrition, and has achieved very good results. Our hospital adopts one-stage radical surgery in the neonatal period to reduce the inconvenience caused by conservative treatment of patients and achieve better results. Traditional giant colon radical surgery requires open surgery, which is traumatic for children, slow recovery, long fasting time, and more complications, but our hospital adopts the advanced transanal minimally invasive surgery method, which can remove the diseased intestine without opening the abdomen. It is highly praised by the parents of the children because of its good results.