Vomiting in children and adults: causes, symptoms and treatment

Gutorova

Natalia Konstantinovna

20 years of experience

Doctor

Make an appointment

Vomiting, the spontaneous release of stomach or duodenal contents through the mouth, can have many causes. A single urge, as a rule, does not cause any particular concern and does not require close attention. However, if an adult or child vomits more than once, this is a reason to consult a doctor.

Causes of vomiting

Vomiting almost never happens without a reason: there is always something that provoked it, and there can be many options:

• food poisoning, medicines, drugs, alcohol intoxication;
• allergic reaction to a food product;
• excess food intake;
• infection;
• pregnancy (especially the first trimester);
• disease of the abdominal organs, for example, ulcer, colitis, gastritis, intestinal or stomach tumor, appendicitis, kidney failure, pancreatitis, etc.);
• intestinal obstruction;
• gallbladder pathologies (cholecystitis, hepatitis, dyskinesia, cholelithiasis);
• severe stress;
• disturbances in the functioning of the central nervous system (cerebral circulatory insufficiency, brain tumor, meningitis, mechanical head injury, migraine condition);
• problems with the vestibular apparatus;
• diabetes mellitus of any stage;
• AIDS.

With any of the above factors, standard vomiting may be observed, supplemented by other symptoms:

• abdominal pain;
• vomiting blood;
• vomiting and fever;
• vomiting bile;
• green vomit;
• vomiting, weakness;
• headache;
• heartburn;
• frequent urge to go to the toilet;
• disturbance of mental activity.

Vomiting in children

Vomiting
occurs more often in children than in adults because the structures in their stomach and brain that prevent food from being expelled through the mouth are not fully developed. In a child, any infections, including ENT organs, fever, rotavirus infection, food poisoning can cause nausea and vomiting. In addition, children are more emotionally sensitive, so often a child’s vomiting can be associated with a dislike for a particular food that has unpleasant memories associated with it. In newborn babies, vomiting should not be confused with regurgitation. A healthy child normally regurgitates 5-10 ml of stomach contents several times a day; regurgitation is associated with food intake and can be a sign of overeating, and can also occur as a result of rapid feeding and swallowing air. However, if the child regurgitates too often and is accompanied by the expulsion of a large amount of stomach contents (vomiting), the baby is not gaining weight well - you should show the child to the doctor, as this may be a symptom of stenosis of the esophagus or pylorus. In older children, vomiting may occur as a result of acute appendicitis or gastroenteritis, in which case the child experiences vomiting and diarrhea with fever and severe abdominal pain. Vomiting, fussiness, a crying baby, no bowel movements, or jelly-like, raspberry-colored stools may indicate intussusception (intestinal obstruction), which is an emergency. Worms can be a common cause of periodic nausea and vomiting in children. In all cases of episodic nausea and vomiting, a child should have a stool test for parasite eggs and, if necessary, undergo treatment. Migraine in children can cause recurrent bouts of vomiting. It is important to note that, unlike adults, migraine in children does not always manifest itself as a headache and for a long time can only manifest itself as episodes of vomiting or dizziness. Nausea and vomiting can occur in girls during the period of menstruation.

Attention!

Call a doctor if:

• Nausea or vomiting occurs several times and you do not know what is causing these symptoms.
• If you suspect that the cause of nausea may be food poisoning, try to give your child a gastric lavage before the doctor arrives.
• If nausea and vomiting occur in a child after a fall or injury (especially head and abdominal injuries).
• Nausea and vomiting in a child is accompanied by one or more of the following symptoms: headache, drowsiness, agitation, diarrhea, loss of consciousness, progressive deterioration of the child’s condition.
• Nausea and vomiting periodically recur in a child for no apparent reason.

When does vomiting require immediate medical attention?

Very often, even vomiting without fever is a reason to call an ambulance as soon as possible. If the patient experiences symptoms such as vomiting blood or a previous injury to the head, spine or abdomen, or if the urge does not stop, call a doctor immediately.

JSC “Medicine” (academician Roitberg’s clinic) has its own emergency department, whose specialists are ready to come to your aid 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can call a car by phone.

First aid for vomiting

Despite the fact that medical manipulations should be carried out by a doctor, especially if brown vomiting, white foam vomiting or black vomiting is observed, it is not superfluous to know how to provide first aid to a victim with such a symptom.

• The sick person should be placed in a horizontal position, with a basin or other container placed nearby into which he could vomit if necessary.
• If severe vomiting is accompanied by weakness, then his head should be turned to the side in order to eliminate the possibility that the person will choke on the escaping masses.
• If this is vomiting due to poisoning or for any other reason, it is necessary to rinse your mouth with a disinfectant solution after the contents of the stomach are released.

These manipulations should be performed by calling a specialist.

Bend of the gallbladder

A substance called bile is concentrated in the gallbladder and is actively involved in digestion, and in particular in the breakdown of fats. Bile enters the duodenum through the common bile duct, where it performs its functions.

Often the cause of vomiting with a small amount of bile is a bend in the gallbladder. This pathology has become increasingly common in children aged 6-10 years in recent years. It is often asymptomatic, but if the bend completely blocks the bile ducts, the disease can be accompanied by acute pain, loss of appetite, nausea and vomiting. If a set of such symptoms appears, you should immediately go to the hospital. The doctor will prescribe treatment and determine a diet. If a child has been diagnosed with a bent gallbladder, there is no need to panic.

As a rule, the child outgrows this pathology. The internal organs also grow and the gallbladder usually levels out. Diet is important to ensure that the gallbladder does not work with overload, does not produce more bile than it can dump into the intestines, and that stones do not form.

Treatment of vomiting in the clinic of JSC "Medicine" (clinic of academician Roitberg)

Often the symptom goes away on its own. However, if its appearance was dictated by the presence of a serious illness, a visit to a specialist is required. Depending on the cause of vomiting, the diagnosis may be carried out by a general practitioner, pediatrician, gastroenterologist, infectious disease specialist or gynecologist.

An experienced doctor will carry out the required diagnostics, make a diagnosis and draw up the most appropriate treatment plan, first of all prescribing anti-vomiting medication.

JSC “Medicine” (clinic of academician Roitberg) employs the best specialists of the capital and region, conducting diagnostics using the most modern equipment of proven world brands. All this together makes the treatment process quick and as convenient as possible for the patient.

You can make an appointment with a doctor by calling +7 24 hours a day or using the feedback form on the official website of the medical center. The clinic is located in the central district of Moscow at 2nd Tverskoy-Yamskaya lane, building 10, next to the metro stations “Belorusskaya”, “Mayakovskaya”, “Tverskaya”, “Novoslobodskaya”, “Chekhovskaya”.

What to do?

Did your child vomit bile? First of all, it is necessary not to panic. If you guess the cause of vomiting and suspect poisoning, do a gastric lavage. And then give him activated charcoal. If you are sure that there could be no poisoning, then it is better to give cool boiled water with mint drops. Put the child to bed. If he has a fever, give him an antipyretic. At such moments, people usually do not want to eat.

Do not insist, let the patient’s stomach clear, do not feed for 5-6 hours. If vomiting continues frequently, give your child warm, boiled water to drink to avoid dehydration. You can also, and this is recommended by traditional healers, dilute orange juice with boiled water and give the child this drink. Do not leave your child alone, unattended while he is sick. If within 12-18 hours the little patient’s condition does not improve or begins to worsen, you should immediately consult a doctor.

Do not refuse to admit your baby to the hospital if the doctor recommends hospitalization. In a hospital setting, the correct diagnosis will be made and the doctor will prescribe treatment.

Features of treatment with medications

First of all, you should understand how to stop vomiting. For this purpose, the doctor prescribes a special anti-vomiting remedy: it can be in the form of injections (if it is absolutely impossible to swallow anything), tablets, syrups.

Since the release of stomach contents can provoke pain, medications are also prescribed to anesthetize the mucous walls of the stomach and relieve spasms. If the symptom is accompanied by diarrhea, then medications that relieve it are prescribed as an additional measure.

Vomiting after alcohol is a separate symptom. It is not stopped in any way, since the main goal is to rid the body of toxic substances. After this, it is necessary to restore the body’s water balance, and therefore it is recommended to drink as much plain water as possible.

Why is vomit green?

The standard signs poisoning are familiar to all medical workers, and the first of them is the green color of vomit. It occurs for two reasons:

• there is excess bilirubin in the blood;
• there was a release of liquid secretion into the stomach.

Both the first and second reasons are what uncontrolled drinking leads to. That is, poisoning occurs. If you feel sick with bile after drinking alcohol, your loved one can be helped at home or taken to a medical facility. People with chronic or serious gastrointestinal tract diagnoses at great risk After ethanol poisoning, they may experience complications that will have a bad effect on their future health.

Recovery after vomiting

Whatever the cause of the disease, after treatment it is necessary to undergo a recovery process. It includes the following items:

• the patient must remain in bed for some time;
• You should drink liquid often and little by little; for this it is better to alternate plain water, sweet tea and low-fat broth;
• temporarily stop consuming dairy products, as well as coffee, alcohol, citrus fruits, and aspirin-based medications;
• start eating food with light dietary foods: lean meat, bananas, rice, cereals;
• For 2-3 days, completely eliminate spicy, fried, smoked, and fatty foods.

Vomiting with bile: is it possible to normalize the condition?

It’s not enough to figure out why you vomit bile after drinking alcohol, but you also need to understand how to normalize the condition.

1. Strict adherence to the diet. You should not eat spicy and salty foods. Fatty meats and fried cutlets should also be excluded. You want to eat vegetables, it’s better to boil or bake them. Low-fat fish varieties are suitable. You can eat various cereals, eat grapes, cherries, and plums. Fruits are allowed.
2. Walk in the fresh air, perform various exercises or moderate exercise. To recover from stress, it is enough to walk in the clean air for half an hour, do a few simple exercises or help around the house. To avoid worsening the condition, you should not visit gyms or lift weights. Give your body time to get stronger and gain strength.

Giving up bad habits will help ease your drunkenness.

Treating vomiting at home

While at home, you can also try to stop gagging using traditional medicine methods.

• Thus, tea based on mint leaves has an excellent calming effect. This is especially true for vomiting caused by a serious stressful situation. For the same purpose, you can drink 15 drops of mint tincture with water.
• A decoction of dill seeds, which can be purchased at any pharmacy, also has a beneficial effect on the treatment process.
• Lemon juice added to plain water is a great way to get rid of vomiting.
• If this is vomiting during pregnancy, then you should stick to fractional meals. Also an effective remedy during pregnancy is chewing a slice of lemon or simple crackers in the morning without getting out of bed, so it is better to prepare them in the evening.

Answers to the most common questions

• I am vomiting and have a fever, what should I do? You should not self-medicate; in this case, it is recommended to see a doctor as soon as possible.
• What does vomiting in the morning mean? It might be worth checking to see if you are pregnant. In all other cases, you should seek medical advice from a doctor.
• White vomit with mucus - what to do? Most likely, the person has recently consumed too much white bread, milk or rice. If there are no other signs of illness, then there is no need to panic.

Nausea and vomiting during pregnancy

Nausea and vomiting are possible signs of pregnancy. In pregnant women, nausea usually occurs in the morning and is accompanied by slight dizziness, weakness, and drowsiness. Nausea and vomiting in pregnant women are symptoms of early gestosis (toxicosis). The occurrence of nausea and vomiting in a pregnant woman may be a sign of worsened pancreatitis, gastritis, gastric ulcer, treatment with iron supplements, therefore, in all cases of nausea and vomiting in pregnant women, this problem should be discussed with doctor.