CHEST PAIN IN CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS
WHAT ARE THE MOST COMMON CAUSES OF PAIN?
It is very often a mild, temporary inflammation of the "pectoral muscles". It is a muscle that participates in breathing, but also in the usual activities of children. That is why they are subject to "fatigue", which can lead to pain/hypoxia in the muscles and accumulation of lactic acid/. This group also includes growing pains, which are also harmless. There are also pains "on a nerve basis". More emotional children sometimes feel pain in the chest. Sometimes burdened by similar diseases in the family. In some children, the pain appears after a meal/ a feeling of skipping when they lie down, burning behind the sternum, which can be accompanied by belching. It is usually heartburn, which is the result overflow of stomach acid into the esophagus/ hiatus hernia/.
HEARTBURST - the cause of pain in gastro-oesophageal reflux. It is a very common cause of pain of respiratory origin as a result of bronchitis, pneumonia, asthma or pulmonary diseases of other etiology.
WE WILL SURVIVE, BUT NOT IN THE END, HEART PAIN. Doubt about it certainly causes the most panic among our patients and their parents. Children often understand/describe/describe heart rhythm disorders as pain. These include heart attacks after viral and bacterial infections/often unrecognized/- myocarditis and pericarditis/changes on the heart muscle and heart sheath/. Heart muscle diseases are particularly dangerous - myocardiopathies. The disease affects the myocardium and leads to enlargement, thinning or rigidity of the heart muscle. . We are talking about primary cardiomyopathies, the cause of which is unknown, and secondary cardiomyopathies, for which the cause is known. these are very dangerous diseases, which are often not recognized in time, so they are not treated in time and adequately.
WHEN SHOULD YOU BE EXTREMELY CAREFUL?
High temperature, malaise and pain behind the sternum. For any pain that is accompanied by dizziness, fainting or complete loss of consciousness. Chest pains that occur after trauma, a fall, a blow, a traffic accident - a rib fracture, etc. For chest pain in children who "audibly" breathe or whose lungs "whistle". It is usually a more severe form of obstruction - asthma. IF PAIN IN THE CHEST/ BEHIND THE Sternbone/ OCCURS DURING STRONG PHYSICAL EXERCISE - RAPID DIAGNOSTIC PROCESSING IS REQUIRED.
IN THE END WE WILL SAY - Pain behind the sternum, in children and adolescents, is usually not a sign of a more serious illness, but caution is never enough, especially if the children are engaged in sports activities. The heart is the organ that has to adapt the most and adapt to unusual efforts. Also, special caution after previous infections.