Bradycardia in children - causes, symptoms and treatment

Bradycardia in children occurs regardless of their age. With this diagnosis, there is a decrease in heart rate. In a newborn baby, the heart rate decreases by a hundred beats per minute, in preschool children by 70, in adolescents by 60.

Bradycardia in children - causes

This disease develops in the child in the event that he has congenital heart problems. Also the cause of bradycardia are diseases of the nervous and endocrine system, increased intracranial pressure and some infectious diseases. Poisoning by lead or nicotine also refers to the causes of the reduction in the number of heartbeats.

Bradycardia in children also appears with an increased tone of the vagus nerve, as a consequence of the pathological process of the myocardium. This phenomenon causes a decrease in the pulses in the sinus node, and as a result, a nodal rhythm is formed. In addition, a decrease in the heart rate may occur when taking potassium and anaprilin in large quantities.

Forms of the disease

Bradycardia in children is divided into several types depending on how this pathology manifests itself. There is an absolute bradycardia, that is, a decrease in the rhythm, regardless of the patient's condition and the conditions of his being. Relative bradycardia is a decrease in the heart rate when exposed to a certain factor. A slight bradycardia in children is a condition that changes to a tachycardia on exhalation. Such a moderate form of the disease occurs in a child at a younger age, for example, under hypothermia or with pressure on the eyeballs. It should also be noted that this disease can be physiological or pathological in nature.

Symptoms of the disease

Bradycardia in children manifests itself in the form of weakness, lethargy, decreased appetite, dizziness, pain in the chest. But the most pronounced symptom is a decrease in heart rate. Bradycardia is dangerous because the heart with such a pathology is not able to supply organs with blood in full, and therefore oxygen. If this disease is not treated, then in the future it can cause serious violations.

Treatment of the disease

Bradycardia in children is treated according to its type and the causes that caused the disease. To increase the rhythm, the child is prescribed atropine sulphate. If cardiac conduction is impaired, then drugs are prescribed in accordance with the cause of the development of this process. In some emergency cases, electrostimulation of the heart is used. If the disease is caused by taking a drug, the drug should be immediately discontinued and procedures for eliminating side effects should be carried out. Most often the doctor diagnoses this disease prescribes drugs that correct the metabolism of carbohydrates and eliminate oxygen starvation.

In many children, bradycardia is temporary and easily amenable to correction. In some cases, the child simply overgrows this pathology.