Approximately a month ago my two year old grandson was diagnosed with nephrotic syndrome, and unfortunately, at this young age, joined the ranks of other members of his family who experience chronic pain. So, what is nephrotic syndrome and how does chronic pain fit in?
Nephrotic syndrome is a relatively rare disorder, however it is also one of the most common childhood kindey disorders. It is characterized by the following symptoms and conditions:
- proteinuria, or massive leak of proteins such as albumin from the blood stream into the urine
- edema, or swelling and fluid retention which is caused when albumin levels in the blood become low
- decrease in urination with high levels of protein in the urine
- quick weight gain, typically related to edema
- edema which occurs around the eyes in the morning and seems to disappear throughout the day or edema which moves to the hands and feet toward evening
- edema in the abdominal area which may first be noted by clothes fitting tighter than usual
- scrotal swelling and sensitivity in boys, and labial swelling and sensitivity in girls
- additionally, there may be some abdominal pain, nausea and diarrhea as well as a general ill feeling or an all over body hurt
- increased or high blood pressure, and resultant headaches
- increased cholesterol levels in the blood
These symptoms will vary from child to child in their onset and severity. Usually nephrotic syndrome comes on suddenly, and there are no specific causes for it that are known. Speculation exists and there have been connections noted between nephrotic syndrome, which is also known as nephrosis, and impetigo or strep infections which did not receive treatment, or were resistant to antibiotics. Nephrotic syndrome almost always occurs after a child has had a cold or another infection.
My grandson had a resistant impetigo infection which occured when mosquito bits on his legs became infected with strep bacteria. He was treated with a course of 10 days of augmentin by his pediatrician, and developed the nephrotic syndrome over a period of three days approximately two weeks after he was finished with the antibiotics. His primary symptoms were edema in the eye region and scrotal pain as well as pain with urination.
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