The Difference between a Child and an Adult.

Differences between a Child and Adult

Physiologically and anatomically, children and adults are different. To provide care appropriately, nurses must be aware of the variations.

Head Size

Infants and early children have huge heads compared to their bodies. Infants' heads make up one-fourth of their body height, but adults' heads make up one-eighth of their height. Additionally, the neck muscles of babies and young children are not adequately developed. There is a higher frequency of brain injuries from falls in youngsters as a result of both of these factors.

The skull's sutures are not fused or joined together in a newborn baby. Thus, if intracranial pressure (ICP) rises during the neonatal and infant stages, the head simply enlarges as the sutures split or the fontanel bulges. Because their sutures fuse and they display other signs of elevated ICP, older children and adults cannot do this (such as vomiting, headache).

Ear

Infants and younger children's eustachian tubes are generally short, broad, and horizontally positioned, which makes it easier for germs and viruses to enter the middle ear from the throat, leading to more ear infections than in adults.

The tubes become more slanted as the child gets older. As a result, middle ear effusion and infection are less common in older kids and adults. Adenoidal growth can occasionally cause the Eustachian tubes to get blocked, which can cause infection in young children.

Eye

Children's eyes are more vulnerable to injury because they occupy a larger space within the orbit than adults' eyes do.

Nose

Infants must breathe through their noses until they are 6 months old; if their nose is blocked, they cannot naturally open their mouths to breathe. Only while they are wailing do newborns breathe via their mouths. Therefore, breathing difficulties can result from blocked noses.

Throat

Compared to adults, infants have a bigger tongue in relation to the oropharynx. A significant airway blockage might quickly result from the posterior displacement of the tongue. Even in the absence of illness, younger children frequently have increased tonsil and adenoid tissue. This may increase the likelihood of airway blockage.

Respiratory system

In comparison to adults, children have a smaller airway lumen. The adult trachea measures 20 mm in width, but the newborn trachea is only about 4 mm broad. The ability for air passage is significantly reduced when edema, mucus, or bronchospasm are present; this causes an exponential rise in airflow resistance and increases work of breathing (effort or labor connected with respiration).

The funnel-shaped larynx and higher neck location of the glottis and larynx in young children enhance the risk of aspiration of foreign objects into the lower airways. The risk of foreign body aspiration is additionally increased by the fact that branching of the trachea in children occurs at the level of the third thoracic vertebra as opposed to the level of the sixth thoracic vertebra in adults.

Children are more susceptible to lower airway obstruction than adults because their bronchi and bronchioles have narrower diameters than those of adults. About 50 million alveoli are present in infants, and by the time a child is 7 or 8 years old, there are 300 million. As a result of having fewer alveoli, preterm and immature newborns are more susceptible to hypoxemia and carbon dioxide retention.

Metabolic Rate and Oxygen Need

Compared to adults, kids have a much higher metabolic rate. Their need for oxygen is greater, and their respiratory rates are faster. Infants use 6 to 8 liters of oxygen per minute, compared to adults who use 3 to 4 liters. Infants and children will therefore experience hypoxemia at the time of respiratory distress more quickly than adults.

Cardiac system

The heart lays more horizontally in children under the age of seven, causing the apex to be higher in the chest and below the fourth intercostal gap. The heart develops more vertically within the thoracic cavity during the years of school age.

Infants' normal heart rates are higher than those of adults', yet their blood pressure is lower than that of adults. Due to their smaller blood volumes than adults, children are more likely to get severe shock from a relatively slight cut.

Gastrointestinal system

• Esophagus
  • Young infants typically regurgitate because the lower esophageal sphincter's muscle tone is not fully formed in them. As a child gets older, regurgitation issues typically go away.
• Stomach
  • Children's stomachs are smaller than adults'. Infants can hold up to 200 mL in their stomachs by the time they are 2 months old. By the time they are 16 years old, their stomachs can hold 1,500 mL, and by the time they are adults, they can hold 2,000 to 3,000 mL. Children therefore require modest, frequent meals.
• Intestines
  • At birth, the small intestine is not fully developed physiologically. Infants' small intestines are about 250 cm long, while adults' can be up to 600 cm long. In newborns and infants, food passes through very quickly, resulting in the loose nature of stools.
• Liver
  • At birth and into infancy, the liver is a sizeable organ. As a result, infancy allows for easy palpation of the smooth edge of the liver, which can be found up to 2 cm below the costal margin.

Genito-urinary system

Up until the child enters adolescence, the kidney is enormous in comparison to the size of the abdomen. Because the kidneys are less able to concentrate urine and reabsorb amino acids, infants and young toddlers are more likely to become dehydrated when there is a loss of fluid or a reduction in fluid intake. Up to adolescence, bladder capacity is roughly 30 mL and grows by 30 mL year. Due to their significantly shorter urethras than adults, children are more susceptible to bacterial invasion of the bladder through the urethra. Additionally underdeveloped at birth, the reproductive organs typically do not reach full maturity until adolescence.

Muscular skeletal system

Children's musculoskeletal systems are less developed than those of adults, therefore when a musculoskeletal issue arises in childhood, the child's development and mobility may be hampered. In an infant, the muscles make up around 25% of the entire body weight, whereas in an adult, they make up about 40%.

The bones of infants and young children are more porous, malleable, and deficient in minerals than those of adults. As a result, a young child's bones are more shock-absorbing, so when they are injured, they frequently flex rather than break. Children mend their bones more quickly than adults do. Compared to adult bones, those of children create callus (new bone call) more quickly and in greater amounts.

Body fluid status

Children and infants have substantially more bodily water than do adults. They have more extracellular fluid than adults do, thus when potential food loss (like burn) happens, water loss happens more quickly and in greater proportions than in adults. In order to sustain growth, infants have a substantially greater body surface area (BSA) than older children and adults and a higher basal metabolic rate. Young children are more likely to experience insensible fluid losses due to their faster metabolic rates and bigger BSA, and they also require more water for their excretory processes.

As compared to older children and adults, early infants' kidneys are less able to concentrate urine. This increases the danger of dehydration or overhydration in babies, depending on the circumstances.es

Integumentary system

Infants' epidermis is thinner than that of adults, and because there is less subcutaneous fat, the blood vessels are located closer to the skin's surface. Therefore, compared to older children or adults, infants lose heat more quickly via the surface of their skin. The infant's skin is also much thinner than that of an adult, which makes it easier for chemicals to pass through the skin and be absorbed. In comparison to adults, children have a proportionally higher body surface area (BSA). The ratio of body surface area (skin) to body size is greater in children who are smaller than average.

Immune system

The immune systems of infants and young children are still developing, making them more prone to infection.

Temperature regulation

Because of their larger body surfaces, newborns and infants lose heat more quickly than adults do. Additionally, because their hypothalamus has not fully developed, they are unable to produce heat through shivering like adults do. Brown fat metabolism keeps newborn thermoregulation in check, but once the brown fat is used up, it is not replenished.

Cell division

Children's cells divide more quickly than those of adults in order to support their accelerated rate of growth. Children are therefore more vulnerable than adults to the effects of radiation.