Hirschsprung's Disease Research Paper

Hirschsprung’s Disease is a congenital condition that affects the colon which is also known as the large intestine. It is a developmental disorder of the enteric nervous system that is characterized by the absence of ganglion cells in the last part of the colon. This disease occurs in 1 out of every 5,000 live births. It affects newborns, babies and toddlers because it can show late symptoms during a child’s toddler’s years.
Many parents believe Hirschsprung is just a fancy word for constipation. But it is not, constipation is a condition in which there is difficulty in emptying the bowel. Due to the lack of water, without water the feces can’t pass easily and hardens. With hirschsprung’s the large intestine is missing the nerve cells that

Depending on the severity of the condition there are two types of surgeries. One is called the “Pull –through Procedure.” The surgeon removes the segment that lacks nerve cells and connects the healthy intestine to the anus. In some cases the surgeon may do an Ostomy. Depending on how serve infected the large intestine is surgeons may do an Ileostomy. Where they remove the large intestine and connect the small intestine to a opening surgeons do, called a stoma. Second one is a Colostomy, were they only remove a portion of the colon. Doctors will do this in case they want to do the surgery in two steps. After the pull-through procedure, children as well for infants have to drink a lot of fluid. Reason why, some babies get a feeding tube inserted through their nose. If the child has had an ostomy they have a pouch connected to them, this won’t prevent the child from living a normal and healthy life. Before or after the surgery babies or children can suffer from an infection in the intestines, name enterocolities. The symptoms can be fever, vomiting, diarrhea, bleeding of the rectum and lack of energy.
The lifestyle for children with Hirschsprung’s disease can be a little more different then someone who does not have the condition. As these children grow up they have to eat more foods with fiber and drink much more fluids. For long terms, kids with Down syndrome can increase severe constipation. For others approximately 95% of the children with hirschsprung live a good life with no complications. And for the other five percent they do have some