Suraj Gupte*

Professor and Head (Emeritus), Postgraduate Department of Paediatrics, MMC and Hospitals, Khammam, Telangana, India

*Corresponding Author: Suraj Gupte, Professor and Head (Emeritus), Postgraduate Department of Paediatrics, MMC and Hospitals, Khammam, Telangana, India.

Received: June 29, 2021; Published: July 20, 2021

Abstract

Background: Chronic diarrhoea, defined as diarrhoea of 2 weeks or more duration, is a common problem in Indian children. Until recently, this remained ambiguous if the approach to its diagnostic evaluation and management warranted to be the same as followed in the western countries.

Objective: To focus on the current etiologic profile of chronic diarrhoea in childhood in India and highlight the major differences between the profile encountered in Western children.

Design: The review is based on author’s extensive experience in chronic diarrhoea in children in India spread over the past four decades and the information available in the English medical literature.

Salient Features: Aetiology of chronic diarrhoea in resource-limited settings is exhaustive. Nonetheless, only a few conditions such as protein-energy malnutrition (PEM), iron-deficiency anaemia (IDA), intestinal parasitosis (giardiasis, ancylostomiasis), and excessive consumption of soft drinks monopolise the situation. Coeliac disease, inflammatory bowel disease, and cystic fibrosis do occur but less frequently. This picture sharply contrasts with the pattern dominated by celiac disease, cystic fibrosis and inflammatory bowel disease in the Western children.

Conclusion: A good idea about the pattern of aetiology of chronic diarrhoea in different regions together with an individualised approach and an adequate follow-up is likely to resolve a large majority of the diagnostic problems in chronic diarrhoea in paediatric practice. Treatment depends on the aetiological condition. With the evolving socioeconomic and living conditions, futuristic changes in the aetiological pattern in India are expected in future. As the nutritional status improves and gut parasitic infestations get controlled, the pattern may slowly move towards the one that is seen in the western countries.

Keywords: Ancylostomiasis; Chronic Diarrhoea; Coeliac Disease; Cystic Fibrosis; Endemic Tropical Sprue; Giardiasis; Intestinal Parasitosis; Iron Deficiency Anaemia; Protein-Energy Malnutrition

References

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Citation

Citation: Suraj Gupte. “Chronic Diarrhoea: Scenario in Indian Vis-à-Vis Western Children”. Acta Scientific Gastrointestinal Disorders 4.8 (2021): 40-43.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2021 Suraj Gupte. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.