What to do if a child has severe vomiting?
Severe vomiting in a child can be due to a wide variety of reasons. These are not only infections, but also emotional shocks. An adult, in order to provide adequate assistance, needs to observe the child, evaluate other symptoms and try to find out the cause of this condition. This will help you decide whether to call an ambulance or you can wait for the arrival of the local pediatrician.
The most common causes of severe vomiting in children are:
- Intestinal infection;
- Poisoning with food, drugs, poisons, chemicals, etc.;
- Diseases of the digestive system;
- Diseases of the central nervous system;
- Diseases requiring surgery;
- Change of residence zone;
- Emotional shock.
The first aid that should be provided to a child with severe vomiting does not depend on the etiological factor that caused it. It is important that the patient takes a position that does not allow vomit to enter the respiratory tract. To do this, the child's head must be on a dais and be turned to the side. After vomiting, you need to rinse the child's mouth and after 90 minutes offer him mineral water without gas.
You should not feed the child, especially if he himself does not want to. In the event that the baby asks for food, you can give him some sweet tea and crackers. The rest of the adult's actions should be based on the cause of severe vomiting.
If the attack was triggered by psycho-emotional stress (fear, excitement, violent eating, etc.), then, as a rule, such vomiting will not harm the child's physical health. Therefore, you can refuse to see a doctor. However, it is important to reassure the child and make him feel cared for. You should not force the child to eat; it is best to offer him plenty of fluids throughout the day. This will make it possible to restore the water-salt balance.
Severe vomiting with intestinal infection is almost always accompanied by an increase in body temperature and diarrhea. The state of health continues to deteriorate, after an attack of vomiting, relief of the condition does not occur. Severe vomiting with intestinal infection is a reason to call an ambulance team.
Vomiting in case of poisoning always brings relief to the patient. In case of a mild course of poisoning, you can postpone a visit to a doctor, trying to help the child at home. The stomach should be rinsed with boiled water with activated charcoal. For 3 liters of water, you need 3 tablespoons of powdered coal. The drug is well dissolved in liquid and give the child 2-3 glasses to drink. After that, they provoke vomiting. When only pure water comes out of the stomach, the procedure is stopped, a sorbent is given to the patient and put to bed.
After the toxins are removed from the body, the child needs to recover. To do this, he is offered saline solutions (Regidron, Trisol), which are drunk in small sips throughout the day. You should also replenish the volume of lost liquid with fruit drinks, sweet tea, non-carbonated mineral water.
Severe vomiting can occur with the following diseases of the digestive system:
- Appendicitis. This disease requires an immediate call for an ambulance.
- Pylorospasm and pyloric stenosis. These are congenital pathologies of the development of the digestive tract, which most often require surgical treatment.
- Exacerbation of gastritis. In this case, the child will complain of pain in the epigastric region. A doctor's consultation is essential.
- Intestinal obstruction provokes severe vomiting with impurities of feces. Requires immediate medical attention.
It is possible that severe vomiting is provoked by a foreign body entering the gastrointestinal tract, and the body is thus trying to get rid of it. If a foreign object makes breathing difficult, then a doctor should be called as soon as possible. In some cases, it is possible to observe the child until the moment a foreign object leaves through natural pathways.
The vomiting center in the brain is activated in diseases of the central nervous system, which can cause severe vomiting. These can be brain tumors, encephalitis, meningitis, epilepsy. If the child has a head injury, then he may have a concussion. All these conditions require immediate attention to specialists.
In infancy, vomiting can be caused by increased intracranial pressure. A child with hydrocephalus or high ICP must be registered with a neurologist.
It is important for parents to understand that vomiting itself is not a disease, so it does not require treatment. But delay in treating the underlying disease that provoked it can be very dangerous.
There are situations in which calling an ambulance is mandatory:
- Severe vomiting more than 3 times a day.
- The triad of symptoms: diarrhea, vomiting, hyperthermia.
- Convulsions.
- Sudden weight loss.
- Pallor of the skin, their dryness.
- Head injury preceding severe vomiting.
Author of the article: Alekseeva Maria Yurievna | Therapist
Education: From 2010 to 2016 Practitioner of the therapeutic hospital of the central medical-sanitary unit No. 21, city of elektrostal. Since 2016 she has been working in the diagnostic center No. 3.
