Clinical profiles and causes of ascites in children at a tertiary care hospital, Bangladesh

Abstract

Background: Ascites is an accumulation of serous fluid within the peritoneal cavity. Combined analysis of laboratory data and clinical and pathological details are essential for establishing a differential diagnosis. In children of Bangladesh our context, etiologies behind ascites are not yet studied well. The aim of our study was to evaluate the causes of ascites in the basis of clinical feature and laboratory investigation in children. Methods: This was a cross-sectional retrospective descriptive hospital-based record review of a tertiary center of hospital, Bangladesh. All children aged between 6 months to 17 years with ascites, irrespective of their primary cause admitted in pediatric ward were included in this study. The study was conducted during September 2019 to September 2020. During this period, 50 children presented with ascites were enrolled in the study. Result: The mean age was 8.174. The age range of the patients was from 6 months to 17 years. Twenty-eight (56.0%) of them were males and 44% of the participants were female. Maximum 54% have duration more than 7 days. The most common previous symptoms were fever (68%) and jaundice (38%) followed by bleeding manifestation (30%). The most common etiology of ascites was Chronic liver disease with portal HTN (48%), followed by abdominal tuberculosis (14%). Conclusion: This study found that CLD with Portal HTN is the most common cause of ascites in pediatric age group and second most common cause is infectious cause e.g. abdominal tuberculosis. This also highlighted that the presenting symptoms and laboratory parameter that guided to find out the causes of ascites.