Pyelonephritis in children: symptoms of the disease

Inflammation of the kidney caused by pathogenic microorganisms is pyelonephritis. In children, the symptoms of such a disease most often begin to develop at a very early age. Excite the inflammatory process, penetrating the kidneys, as a rule, intestinal or pseudomonas aeruginosa, enterococci, proteas, staphylococci. Symptoms of pyelonephritis in children of small age often include diarrhea or, on the contrary, constipation, dysbiosis, which indicates a digestive disorder. Proceeding from this, doctors conclude that often the kidneys get the infection from the intestine, and the main ways of its spread are the lymph vessels.

Even when the treatment of pyelonephritis in children is completed and there are no signs of illness, it is impossible to say with certainty about a full recovery. In the kidneys, for a fairly long time (up to six months), harmful substances will remain. And although they are not dangerous for the body, they promote the entry of other pathogens into the kidneys, which can provoke the re-development of the inflammatory process.

Clinical picture

Girls are subject to pathology much more often than boys. But in infancy, the incidence of the disease in children of both sexes is almost the same. Pyelonephritis in children, the symptoms of which include abdominal and lower back pain, urination disorders, general poor health (weakness, fever, sleep disturbance, loss of appetite) - also causes blushing of the skin, in some cases an icteric tinge.

Pain sensations in the abdomen and waist zones are rather weak, but rather they can be called aching. They are amplified with jumps, slopes, that is, any actions that change the position of the trunk in space. During the casting of urine from the ureter into the kidney there is an extremely strong pain of cutting nature, the temperature increases. In the rest of the time, soreness is practically absent and appears only when tapping on the kidneys. Pyelonephritis in children, whose symptoms are usually not supplemented with edema and increased blood pressure, causes a slight increase in the amount of urine released. At the same time it becomes opaque and gets an unpleasant smell.

When the urine is analyzed, it shows an excess of the norm of the content of leukocytes, protein, kidney tubules, salts (not always). The acidity also changes more or less, depending on the type of pathogen. A blood test also shows an increase in the number of leukocytes.

Features of the disease in infants

In infants, the pain syndrome is even weaker than in older children. What signs allow you to suspect pyelonephritis in children? Symptoms include crying, lethargy or, on the contrary, agitation, refusal of feeding and so on. The bad thing is that such signs are not specific at all and can indicate a variety of pathologies. And at the same time, delay and failure to provide timely adequate therapy is fraught with extremely negative consequences. In infants, the infection rapidly spreads from the kidneys to the entire body, which leads to the development of sepsis. The work of many organs is disrupted, in the severe course of pyelonephritis, brain damage can occur. But still it is necessary to calm the parents somewhat and say that this does not always happen. In some cases, in infants, the inflammatory process proceeds easily, accompanied by only minor symptoms. But sometimes this is the danger, because such weak manifestations of pyelonephritis can make it difficult to establish a correct diagnosis, which will not allow timely treatment.