Question
A one and a half-year-old baby has been diagnosed with rickets. At six months old, the baby was found to have ribcage outward curvature, and upon hospital examination, there was a slight calcium deficiency. The parents have supplemented the child with Dicalcium Phosphate tablets and started walking at ten months old. However, by one year old, the baby was found to have O-shaped legs, and the outward curvature of the ribcage did not improve. Currently, the child is taking Ikenshin and Dicalcium Phosphate, but bone density tests show no calcium deficiency, and the parents are unsure how to proceed with treatment.
Answer
Rickets is a chronic nutritional disease caused by vitamin D deficiency, characterized by incomplete calcification of the epiphyseal plate of long bones. The treatment goal is to control the condition and prevent skeletal deformities. Treatment should mainly be oral, with a recommendation to supplement 2000 to 4000 IU of vitamin D daily or use 1,25-OH2-D3 at a dose of 0.5μg to 2.0μg monthly. For severe rickets or babies with complications, consider intramuscular injection of high-dose vitamin D. A recheck should be done after one month of treatment; if there is no improvement in the condition, it should be differentiated from antivitamin D rickets. Additionally, according to the recommendations of the Chinese Nutrition Society, the daily dietary calcium intake for babies aged 0 to 6 months is 300 mg, and for 7 to 12 months it is 400 mg.