CLINICAL CHARACTERISTICS AND CAUSES OF GASTROINTESTINAL BLEEDING IN CHILDREN

Abstract

Abstract: Background: Gastrointestinal bleeding (GI) is a complication of many diseases, caused by injury at the gastrointestinal tract or outside the gastrointestinal tract, causing bleeding from mild to severe severity, which can even cause shock and death. The causes of gastrointestinal bleeding vary by age. Objectives: To describe the clinical, subclinical and common causes of non-infectious gastrointestinal bleeding in children. Subjects and methods: Patients from 2 months to 15 years old admitted to Pediatrics Department I, Pediatric Center, Hue Central Hospital from February 2020 to February 2021 with a diagnosis of gastrointestinal bleeding. The study was carried out by cross-sectional descriptive research method. Results: The study included 116 patients, 7 children in the group of 2 months - < 1 year old (6.0%), 36 children in the group 1 - < 6 years old (31%), 36 children in the group 6 - < 11 years old (31.1%) and 37 children in the group of 11-15 years old (31.9%). The mean age was 7.6 ± 4.6. Peptic ulcer disease is the most common cause of GI bleeding, accounting for 37%; 12.9% cases unknown cause. Most of the patients had mild and moderate GI bleeding, about 60.3% and 23.3%; severe bleeding 8.6% and very severe 7.8%. The most common cause of GI bleeding in the group of 2 months - < 1 year old is Mallory-Weiss syndrome and milk protein allergy (22.2%), in the group of 1-5 years old is anal fissure (41.6%) and in children over 6 years old is peptic ulcer disease. Conclusion: The most common causes of gastrointestinal bleeding depend on the age and have different clinical features depending on the cause. Key words: gastrointestinal bleeding in children, melena, hematemesis, hematochezia.