Intracranial pressure in children. Symptoms, causes, treatment

Many parents have heard about the harm that development can cause constantly increased intracranial pressure in children. Symptoms are diverse. Usually such deviations appear in newborns and pass to half a year. If, for some reason, there is no improvement, a two-year-old and older children begin to experience a debilitating headache.

Often, it is possible to judge the headache of a youngster, not according to him (many simply can not yet describe their condition), but by indirect evidence.

Kids often cry or act up for no reason. Any movement can cause an explosion of negative emotions, crying. This is especially noticeable in the morning, when the baby wakes up and tries to sit in the crib. The transition to a vertical position can provoke vomiting. It happens that a sharp movement is fraught with cardiac irregularities, the appearance of dyspnea, sometimes convulsions.

If ICP rises constantly, a small man can involuntarily fix the unnatural position of the head, in which the pain is felt the least. Sometimes children can grab with their hands the place where they feel particularly severe pain.

High intracranial pressure can be suspected if the baby is ill, restlessly asleep, rushes in a dream. During the day, such boys and girls are extremely shy. They shudder from loud sounds. In addition, preschoolers are often aggressive, capricious. They are characterized by bruises around the eyes, the veins on the head can be clearly seen. Toddlers suffer from excessive sweating, meteorological dependence, increased nervousness, frequent "jumps" of pressure, a general low tone.

At later stages, the preschooler becomes sluggish, drowsy. He often, sometimes to a critical level, drops the pressure. In severe cases, the movement of the eyeballs is disturbed.

Is intracranial pressure dangerous for children? Symptoms of it can be signs of a brain tumor, circulatory disorders, vasospasms. If you do not diagnose ICD in time, do not start examination and treatment, you can skip the development of hydrocephalus, brain cancer, mental development disorders .

Few people know that for young children it is dangerous not only increased, but also lowered ICP.

Does it look like increased intracranial pressure in children? Symptoms they may be similar. Children become as irritable, sluggish. They get tired very quickly, they often get lazy in transport. Lowered ICP can be suspected if, when the position of the body changes, the baby begins to cry or be capricious. This is due to the fact that the crumb pursues a painful, squeezing head pain, sharply increasing when the posture changes. In this state, vomiting, nausea (with increased ICP, nausea is usually absent).

To reduce pain, the baby often subconsciously lowers his head down.

If an increase in ICP usually provokes tumors, vasospasms or congenital anomalies, then low ICP is most often, though not always, caused by trauma, dehydration, after puncture or inaccurate treatment of certain diseases.

If the baby such problems have arisen, that the most correct decision will be his hospitalization. He will need an infusion of sodium, glucose, and some other drugs.

Usually low intracranial pressure is well treatable, but in the most extreme case, if conservative treatment does not help, the doctor can prescribe an operation.

It should be remembered that any abnormal intracranial pressure in children, the symptoms of which inattentive parents can miss, can lead to serious consequences, among which there are mental disorders, hydro- or microcephaly, developmental lag.

If treatment is timely, then any deviations from the norm are cured and do not give any consequences.