Dietary Needs for Hirschsprung Patients: Explained | Cincinnati Children's

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Dietary Needs for Hirschsprung Patients: Explained
a GlobalCastMD production
Abby Giangiordano, RD, LD, registered dietitian:
Dietary Needs for Hirschsprung Patients: Explained
"Hi everyone, my name is Abby. I am a dietitian here at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, and I work with the colorectal patients.
Today, I’m going to be talking a little bit about dietary needs for Hirschsprung patients and how nutrition can play a big role in helping to meet the bowel movement goals. A lot of patients with Hirschsprung’s disease either struggle with constipation or diarrhea, and there are different ways to manage both of those things in regards to nutrition.
So, the first thing we’re gonna talk about is soluble fiber for our patients with chronic diarrhea. This is the best type of fiber for patients to consume when they have chronic diarrhea because what it actually does is it slows the gut transit of the stool.
And so, the foods that are high naturally in soluble fiber generally are things like applesauce, bananas, breads and pastas, beans, oatmeal, things like that. They have a really good amount of soluble fiber in them that kind of help to slow down that stool so it doesn’t exit so quickly.
For our patients on the other side of the spectrum that struggle with constipation, we recommend higher insoluble fiber foods. So, that's things like roughage, anytime you think of fruits and vegetables, things like, broccoli, apple skins, potato skins, lettuce, and leafy greens. Things like that are really helpful to help push the school out.
They actually act as a little scrubber in the gut and it helps to push stool out for patients who are constipated. So that’s the type of fiber that we like to see our patients consume that struggle with chronic constipation.
So, the next thing I’m gonna talk about is how important fluid intake is in the management of constipation and diarrhea. For patients that have chronic diarrhea, these patients are losing a lot of fluid in their bowel movements and we need to make sure that they’re getting replenished with the fluid that they’re consuming.
We need to make sure that there’s a high water intake and a good intake of electrolyte-containing fluids to help replace the fluids that they’re losing through their bowel movements. And we also need to take into consideration that sugary drinks can actually increase bowel movements pretty significantly, which can cause potentially dehydration.
So, the last thing I’m gonna talk about is how bowel movement frequency affects growth in pediatric patients. When you have a patient that has chronic diarrhea and has excessive losses, they are losing not only a lot of fluid, but they’re losing nutrition through their bowel movements as well.
So, for these patients, we need to make sure that they’re consuming enough calories and nutrition so that they’re not losing weight in addition to all the fluids that they’re losing through their bowel movements.
If you have any questions about dietary needs in patients with Hirschsprung’s, please contact the Colorectal Center here at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.