Girl Bleeding While Traveling Due to Double Bowel Complications

Ho Chi Minh City : 19-month-old Thanh, who was vacationing in Vung Tau with her family, suddenly had a stomachache and bloody stools. Doctors discovered a double intestinal defect with complications of bleeding.

On April 29, Dr. Nguyen Thanh Son Vu, Department of Pediatrics, Tam Anh General Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City, said that the girl was admitted to the emergency room with pale skin, fever, and fatigue. Her abdomen was in the right iliac fossa corner, in the large intestine, with a cyst measuring 2x4 cm.

"This is a congenital double intestinal malformation in the digestive tract, also known as a double intestinal cyst. The only treatment is surgery to avoid complications," said Dr. Vu. The endoscopic surgical team removed the tumor and sutured the intestine. Three days after surgery, the baby recovered and was discharged from the hospital.

Doctor Vu checks Thanh before discharge. Photo: Tue Diem — Doctor Vu checks Thanh before discharge. Photo: *Tue Diem*

Doctor Vu said that Thanh was lucky to have arrived at the hospital early and was treated promptly. If the disease had been detected late, the child could have suffered complications such as intestinal torsion, intussusception, recurrent bleeding, and the risk of malignancy.

Intestinal duplications can occur anywhere in the digestive tract from the esophagus to the colon, most commonly in the intestine. Intestinal duplication cysts are composed of epithelial layers, smooth muscle, and a structure similar to the digestive tract. Congenital cysts, which form during fetal life, may grow larger over time.

According to Dr. Vu, this is a malformation that occurs in 1/4,500 children. About 25-30% of malformations can be detected early during routine prenatal checkups.

Baby Thanh was diagnosed with this abnormality by ultrasound when she was still a 22-week fetus. However, after birth, the baby was healthy and normal, and the family did not monitor her further.

Congenital intestinal duplications do not cause symptoms but silently increase in size. At this time, children often have signs of abdominal pain, diarrhea, constipation or blood in the stool, slow weight gain, and gastrointestinal bleeding.

From the beginning of 2024 until now, the Pediatrics Department, Tam Anh General Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City has performed about 30 emergency surgeries for children with health problems while traveling such as appendicitis, ovarian torsion, testicular torsion, inguinal hernia, intussusception, stomach perforation due to HP virus...

To ensure children's health, parents should have their children examined before departure. Families traveling for a long time, going abroad... need to find out information about the nearest hospital to prevent adverse problems.

For children with congenital diseases that do not require intervention, Dr. Vu recommends that parents take their children for regular check-ups to assess their health status and intervene early when there are signs of abnormalities.

Wisdom

*Patient's name has been changed

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