Drug Induced Uremic Complications

Symptoms, Diagnosis and Treatment

Children, under the age of 10, are susceptible to a variety of health complications, especially those associated with gastrointestinal and urological complications. For some children, the complication may be associated with a bacterial infection or related to a complication of genetics or use of prescription drugs, often resulting in the same diagnosis.

A drug induced illness that is commonly mistaken for a bacterial infection is a complication involving a complication of both the gastrointestinal tract as well as the urological system. Known as Hemolytic uremic syndrome, children who experience this complication are often suffering from symptoms of bloody diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and kidney complications.

Because these symptoms mimic that of an E.coli bacterial infection or a Strep viral infection, often, children are misdiagnosed when the symptoms first appear. For this reason, if you child is taking drugs that can also induce Hemolytic uremic syndrome, it is important that your healthcare provider is familiar with all medications. Medications such as Sandimmune, a cyclosporine, and Prograf, also known as tacrolimus, can result in these life threatening complications.

In addition to drug induced complications, when your child is suffering from Hemolytic uremic syndrome, and E.coli or other bacterial infections are ruled out, your child may require additional testing. Because other health complications can be co morbid with Hemolytic uremic syndrome, the complication may also be exacerbated by health conditions such as lupus, inflammatory bowel disease, appendicitis and even colitis. Be certain to as your pediatrician to examine your child for these conditions as well.

When your child is suffering from a drug-induced complication associated with Hemolytic uremic syndrome, your physician will want to discontinue the medication immediately. In addition, your child may require hospitalization for as long as two weeks to manage the complications that develop in Hemolytic uremic syndrome. While the rate of death with this complication, in children, is around 10 percent, the greater concern is that of developing long term health complications including kidney failure and hypertension. Should your child develop either of these complications, the life span can be significantly shortened.

As with any complication associated with gastrointestinal complaints in a child, it is important to seek medical attention early. With the risk for dehydration and electrolyte imbalance, complications resulting in bloody diarrhea and vomiting are usually indicative of a complex health complication. While many physicians are used to assuming E. coli is the basis for Hemolytic uremic syndrome, in some children the condition may be related to another health condition, such as lupus, or related to a drug-induced reaction.