Pleural Empyema in Children in Senegal-What’s New?

Abstract

Introduction: Purulent pleurisy is a severe form of acute respiratory infection. They are a major concern in pediatric practice. The aim of our work is to study the epidemiological, clinical, therapeutic and progressive profile of purulent pleurisy (PP) in children in Senegal. Patients and methods: This is a retrospective and descriptive study, including children aged 0 to 15 years hospitalized for PP from January 2014 to December 2017 at the Albert Royer Hospital Center. The positive diagnosis of PP was retained in front of the purulent, cloudy or citrine aspect of the pleural puncture fluid with the presence of altered neutrophilic polymorphonuclear cells. Results: The hospital frequency of PP was 0.6%. Sex ratio 1.42. The average age was 49 months. The age group of 6 to 36 months was the most represented. Malnutrition was present in 13 patients. In 91% of cases pleurisy was unilateral and right in 59% of cases. Pneumonia was radiologically associated in 54 children and pneumothorax in 19 children. The lethality was 6.6% (8 patients). The low socioeconomic level (p=0.0001) and the appearance of frankly purulent pleural fluid (p=0.002) were statistically significant associated with this mortality. Conclusion: Purulent pleurisy is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Prevention involves vaccination, strengthening strategies to combat malnutrition and supplementation with zinc and vitamin A.