Why is my baby not pooping after Hirschsprung's surgery?

Verna - posted on 05/19/2012

Thanks so much for your information. Right now i am just giving him probiotic drops that the surgeon gave me to put in his formula. I will look into what you use. Good to know that i need to be aware and prepared for entero at any time. Thanks again.

Brenda - posted on 05/17/2012

Hi Verna,
I think he is experiencing a lot of gas. My son also had similar issues. I tried a lot of belly massage and manipulating his legs to get the gas out. Dilations helped a ton. The threat of EC is big even if he has never had it. My son was exclusively BF for 7 mos, then we intro'ed solids VERY slowly. he nursed till he was 25 mos. He got his first bout w/ EC at 18 mos (15 mos after his p/t). I think the probiotics help a great deal. What kind are you on? We started Joey on Therabiotic infant formula when he was 4 weeks old and at 2 yrs old he went on the adult formula and is now ( he is 3 yrs) on a rx probiotic called VSL. I am so happy to hear he is pooping again. we also had poop in every diaper for months and months post p/t. I thought is would never slow down, but eventually it did. Feel free to contact me if I can help you in anyway...also the fb groups and yahoo groups have wonderful supportive community.
:)

Verna - posted on 05/17/2012

Thanks Brenda. He has been pooping every day now since i last posted. It's hard to tell what his pooping schedule will be since he never has had a normal one since birth. He is now having a BM in every diaper. I am supposing his little body is still getting used to his new intestines. I have started him on probiotics also which seems to help with his discomfort with trying to digest formula vs. breast milk. The surgeons assured me that he does not have the tell tale signs of enterocolitis. They also said that if he has never had it before the surgery, the chances are slim that he would get it since he has solely been breastfed and the milk is filled with antibodies to fight infections. He always seems uncomfortable when he nurses or drinks from the bottle. He contorts and arches his back with every feeding. He has always done this. Is this normal?

Brenda - posted on 05/11/2012

Hi,
My son has LSHD (he is 3). The change to formula is probably the cause of the decrease in poop. Are you dilating? Have you ever been taught how to do an irrigation? Four days w/out poop is NOT GOOD. He is at risk for enterocolitis. I am very surprised your surgeons have not had you in for exam, xray....not acceptable in my opinion. You need to get him cleaned out...via irrigatiuon or enema. Your dr. should give you instructions. Our rule of thumb was 24 hrs w. no poop we irrigate (our son never responded well to enemas). Now that he is older we can wait a little longer. Any change in diet, routine, even sleep can bring about a slow down/stop in poop.
It is common to have continued problems w/ 'constipation' after pt. The problem w/ that is the threat of enterocolitis in HD kids.

have you founf the yahoo HD group yet? Facebook also has quite a few HD groups and all of these are very helpful.

www.josephweiss.com for our HD blog/story.

I hope he is feeling better by now. Good Luck and let me know if I can help in any other way. HD is a journey.

~Brenda