Abdominal tuberculosis in children: A real-world experience of 218 cases from an endemic region.
JGH Open
; 4(2): 215-220, 2020 Apr.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-32280767
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND AND AIM:
Abdominal tuberculosis (ATB) in children poses a diagnostic challenge because of its nonspecific clinical features, which often delay the diagnosis. Our aim was to present our real-world experience and provide an insight into the presentation, pattern of distribution, and diagnosis of the disease.METHODS:
A retrospective review was conducted of case records of all children ≤12 years of age diagnosed with ATB from January 2007 to January 2018. Clinical details and investigations were recorded and analyzed.RESULTS:
A total of 218 children (110 boys), with a median age of 10 (0.25-12) years, were included. There was a median delay of 4 (0.5-36) months in establishing the diagnosis. Abdominal pain, fever, and loss of weight were the most common presenting features, with the triad of symptoms present in 54%. Multiple intra-abdominal sites were involved in 118 (54%) patients, with a combination of the gastrointestinal tract (I) and abdominal lymph nodes (L) being the most common (53/118). Among children with single-site involvement (n = 100), the most commonly involved was L in 39 (39%), followed by I in 35(35%). Loss of weight was more common in children with involvement of multiple sites (85/118 vs 60/100, P = 0.03). Overall, a confirmed diagnosis was possible in 94 participants (43.1%). Suggestive imaging had the highest diagnostic yield of 85%. Nine (4.1%) patients needed surgical management.CONCLUSION:
A triad of abdominal pain, fever, and weight loss is suggestive of ATB. Multiple intra-abdominal sites are frequently involved. Microbiological confirmation is possible in only one-third of the cases.
Texto completo:
1
Banco de datos:
MEDLINE
Idioma:
En
Año:
2020
Tipo del documento:
Article