Laparoscopic-assisted Management of Bleeding Meckel's Diverticulum in Children

This research aims to study the clinicodemographic profile of children with bleeding Meckel's diverticulum (MD) and the role of laparoscopy in their management.

It is a retrospective analysis of all the patients of painless lower gastrointestinal (LGI) bleeding who underwent diagnostic laparoscopy followed by laparoscopic-assisted resection of MD at a tertiary care pediatric hospital in North India from March 2019 to March 2023.

Diagnostic laparoscopy was positive in 17 out of 18 patients (MD = 15, ileal duplication = 2). The mean age of patients with MD was 35.08 ± 27.24 months, with male:female ratio of 2:1 and duration of symptoms ranging from 5 days to 8 months. All of them presented with recurrent bouts of bleeding per rectum and anemia. Seven had hemoglobin <7 g/dl, while 9 needed >2 packed red blood cell transfusions. Three patients presented with shock and needed resuscitation. All the patients underwent laparoscopic-assisted surgical resection with a mean operative time of 72.6 ± 15.4 min; with 2/3^rd of them getting discharged between the 3^rd and 5^th postoperative day, and all of them within 10 days of surgery without any major complications.

Laparoscopy has a diagnostic as well as therapeutic role in painless obscure major LGI bleeding in children. Laparoscopic-assisted resection of MD is safe, time-saving, and without major complications.