Study on Endoscopic Results in Children Admitted with Caustic Ingestion at Ghaem Hospital in 2011-2013

Introduction: Esophagus injuries secondary to caustic ingestion occurs frequently in children. Oral damages cannot give us a clear image of what has happened in upper GI. Therefore endoscopy is only diagnostic way to evaluate upper GI injuries. In this study, we found out the endoscopic results in children admitted with caustic ingestion in Qaem(A. S.) hospital between 2011 to 2013 , and compare it with the result of other studies   Method and Material:  This is a both retrospective and prospective study in children admitted with caustic ingestion in Qaem (A. S.) hospital between 2011 to 2013. All of the children admitted in this period were 54 cases. Patient information inserted into check-lists and analyzed with statistical software.   Results: The whole 54 cases were admitted with caustic ingestion.59.3 % were boys and 40.7 % were girls.34 % were under 2 years old, 34 % between 2-4 years old, 17 % between 4-6 years old and  15% more than 6 years old. 69.2 % ingested substances were acids and 30.8 % were bases. Esophagus endoscopy showed: 2 % Grade 0, 11.8 % Grade 1, 29.4 % Grade 2a,  52.9% Grade 2b, 3.9 % Grade 3a, and 0 % Grade 3b. Stomach endoscopy showed : 30 % normal, 12% mild erythematic, 10 % moderate erythematic,  2% severe erythematic,  30% mild ulcerative,  10% moderate ulcerative, 6 % severe ulcerative.   Conclusion:  In this study 8602 % of cases had severe esophageal corrosion in grade 2 or more. This percent in the study of Temez in Turkey was 34.5 %, in the study of Sanches in Mexico was 84.6 % and in the study of Rafiei in Tabriz was 62 %. It shows more severity of esophageal corrosion in our study than other studies.   Key words: Caustic substances, Clinical findings, Endoscopy.