Constipation in Pediatrics: A Clinical Review

Exploring Community Perspectives on Functional Paediatric Habitual Constipation

(1) Background: Functional habitual constipation (FC) in children is a common gastrointestinal problem. This study aimed to explore the local community's view on this problem, emphasising the challenges that parents face in managing the condition and its impact on the child's quality of life. (2) Methods: A prospective, cross-sectional, community-based study was conducted between March and July 2023. The survey received 933 responses. The target population was adults over 18 years of age living in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. An electronically distributed questionnaire was designed in the Arabic language. (3) Results: The mean knowledge scores were significantly higher in females than males, with t (931) = -2.701 and p = 0.007. The Bonferroni post hoc test results indicated that participants between 20 and 29 years exhibited significantly higher levels of knowledge scores compared to those between 30 and 39 years. Furthermore, the results revealed that those with three or more children had significantly higher knowledge scores compared to those with only one child. (4) Conclusions: This study demonstrated that parents in the local community have a good perceived knowledge of FC, but it needs to be linked with practice. They tended to report high levels of perception and demonstrated better practices. These results emphasise the importance of exploring the local community's view on constipation among children.

Approach to Constipation in Children: Recommendations for Evaluation and Management

Constipation is common in childhood, and most patients can be successfully managed by their primary care provider. However, some patients will require more specialized management either due to an underlying congenital colorectal disorder such as Hirschsprung disease or anorectal malformation or due to severe functional constipation that is refractory to medical management.

Functional constipation symptoms and complementary feeding methods: A randomized clinical trial

INTRODUCTION

The aim of the study was to investigate the impact of different complementary feeding methods on the prevalence of functional constipation symptoms in infants at 12 months of age.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Randomized clinical trial in mother-infant dyads that underwent the intervention at 5.5 months post birth, randomly allocated to one of three complementary food introduction methods: PLW (parent-led weaning), Baby-led Introduction to SolidS (BLISS) and a mixed approach. The symptoms of constipation were assessed at 12 months with an online questionnaire based on the Rome IV diagnostic criteria and adapted to our sample. The data were summarised as absolute frequencies and percentages and compared by means of the χ² test. The project was approved by the ethics committee of the Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre under number 2019-0230.

RESULTS

We analysed data corresponding to 135 infants, 45 allocated to PLW, 48 to BLISS and 42 to the mixed approach. The prevalence of constipation symptoms was 49.6% in the overall sample (n = 67), 60% (n = 27) in the PLW group, 47.9% (n = 23) in the BLISS group and 40.5% (n = 17) in the mixed approach group. We found no association between functional constipation symptoms and the method used to introduce complementary foods (P = .183).

CONCLUSIONS

The prevalence of functional constipation symptoms was high in the study population. The presence of constipation symptoms was not associated with the complementary feeding approach.

A National Study to Compare Effective Management of Constipation in Children Receiving Concurrent Versus Standard Hospice Care

Constipation is a distressing and uncomfortable symptom children experience at end of life. There is a gap in knowledge about how different approaches to hospice care delivery might improve pediatric symptom management of constipation. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of pediatric concurrent hospice versus standard hospice care to manage constipation. Medicaid data (2011-2013) were analyzed. Children who were younger than 21 years enrolled in hospice care and had a hospice enrollment between January 1, 2011, and December 31, 2013, were included. Instrumental variable analysis was used to test the effectiveness of concurrent versus standard hospice care. Among the 18 152 children, approximately 14% of participants were diagnosed or treated for constipation from a nonhospice provider during hospice enrollment. A higher proportion of children received nonhospice care for constipation in concurrent hospice care, compared with standard hospice (19.5% vs 13.2%), although this was not significant (β = .22, P < .05) after adjusting for covariates. The findings demonstrated that concurrent care was no more effective than standard hospice care in managing pediatric constipation. Hospice and nonhospice providers may be doing a sufficient job ordering bowel regimens before constipation becomes a serious problem for children at end of life.