Most otherwise-healthy children who repeatedly complain of stomachaches for two months or more have functional abdominal pain. The term “functional” refers to the fact that there is no blockage, inflammation or infection causing the discomfort. Your GI Provider will help determine whether your child’s pain is functional. Nevertheless, the pain is very real, and is due to extra sensitivity of the digestive organs,
sometimes combined with changes in gastrointestinal movement patterns. A child’s intestine has a complicated system of nerves and muscles that helps move food forward and carry out digestion.
In some children, the nerves become very sensitive, and pain is experienced even during normal intestinal functions. The pain can be triggered by illness, stress, constipation, or other factors.
These children often miss school and activities. Fortunately, despite recurrent pain, these children have normal growth and are generally healthy.
Biliary atresia is a rare disease of the liver and bile ducts that occurs in infants. Symptoms of the disease appear or develop about two to eight weeks after birth. Cells within the liver produce liquid called bile.
Bile helps to digest fat. It also carries waste products from the liver to the intestines for excretion.This network of channels and ducts is called the biliary system.
When the biliary system is working the way it should, it lets the bile drain from the liver into the intestines.When a baby has biliary atresia, bile flow from the liver to the gallbladder is blocked.
This causes the bile to be trapped inside the liver, quickly causing damage and scarring of the liver cells (cirrhosis), and eventually liver failure.
