Chronic constipation in pediatric practice: what do we know? Anything new?

Abstract

Constipation among children is an extremely widespread state. They arise at any age and may pose major challenges, disrupting the child’s health with the risk of complications, regressing the quality of life of both the child and his family members. Having arisen once, constipation among children can recur, require repeated and prolonged treatment. For children, functional constipation is the most common. According to international recommendations, it is not necessary to resort to complicated methods for its diagnosis, wherein the treatment and prevention of constipation in children requires a fairly strict adherence to diet, motor activity and drug therapy. The evidence base on the use of certain foods for constipation is expanding. The relationship between constipation and intestinal microbiota disturbance was revealed, providing a theoretical basis for the microbial treatment of chronic constipation. Among the wide variety of laxatives traditionally prescribed for constipation in children’s practice, safe and effective use is proven with the use of polyethylene glycol (macrogol) and lactulose.