Rhinosinusitis among children and adolescents in Southwestern Nigeria

Abstract

Worldwide, rhinosinusitis is a common sinus and nasal condition. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence and clinical characteristics of rhinosinusitis among children and adolescents in Ekiti, in the southwest of Nigeria. This two-year retrospective hospital study included 161 children and adolescents who had rhinosinusitis at the Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital in Ado Ekiti, southwest Nigeria. SPSS version 18 was used to analyze the data. There were 161 participants, ages 2 to 17, mean ± SD = 6.8 ± 4.5. 101 (62.7%) of them were males, making the male to female ratio 1.5:1. 9.2% of the participants in this study had rhinosinusitis. Recurrent rhinosinusitis (41) and chronic rhinosinusitis (61) were the two most prevalent types of rhinosinusitis. According to the etiology, 81 (50.3%) cases of infective rhinosinusitis were the main clinical pattern, followed by 67 (41.6%) cases of allergic rhinosinusitis and 13 (8.1%) cases of vasomotor rhinitis. There were 127 cases of nasal stuffiness (78.9%), 108 cases of rhinorrhea (67.1%), 92 cases of snoring (57.1%), and 86 cases of coughing (53.4%). Adeno-tonsillar hypertrophy, nasal foreign body impaction, and asthma were the three main comorbid conditions with rhinosinusitis in children, with 96 (59.6%), 46 (28.6%), and 12 (7.5%) cases each. In this study, the most common complications of rhinosinusitis were tonsillitis (26.7%), otitis media (33.5%), orbital complications (36.6%), and pneumonia (8.1%). In Ado Ekiti, southwest Nigeria, rhinosinusitis was a common sino-nasal condition affecting children and adolescents. Due to the delayed presentation, chronic rhinosinusitis was the most frequent type.