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Acute segmental obstructing enteritis in children
1Department of Pediatrics, Mackay Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China.
Insights
This study describes acute segmental enteritis in 15 children, a condition causing intestinal obstruction. Most cases resolved with antibiotics, showing it
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Gastroenterology
- Surgical Pediatrics
Background:
- Acute segmental enteritis is a condition presenting with symptoms of intestinal obstruction in children.
- This entity has not been previously reported in Chinese pediatric populations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To describe the clinical characteristics, diagnostic findings, and management outcomes of acute segmental enteritis in children.
- To report the first series of this disease in Chinese children.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective review of 15 pediatric cases diagnosed with acute segmental enteritis and intestinal obstruction.
- Clinical data including symptoms, laboratory findings, surgical exploration, and treatment responses were analyzed.
Main Results:
- The condition presented with fever, leukocytosis, bilious vomiting, and abdominal pain indicative of obstruction.
- Exploration showed segmental ischemic changes in the small bowel; however, surgery was not required for most patients.
- Antibiotic therapy was effective in nonoperative management, with a self-limited clinical course of 10-14 days and no mortality.
Conclusions:
- Acute segmental enteritis is a distinct, self-limiting pediatric disease entity.
- Nonoperative management with antibiotics is often sufficient, avoiding surgical intervention in most cases.
- This report highlights the occurrence of this condition in Chinese children.
Abstract:
We studied a group of 15 children with acute segmental enteritis associated with intestinal obstruction. The disease is characterized by fever, leukocytosis, copious bilious vomiting, and severe abdominal pain with signs of intestinal obstruction. Exploration revealed varying degrees of segmental ischemic change in the small bowel, but surgery seemed to be unnecessary in most cases. Antibiotics were effective in nonoperative cases. The clinical illness lasted 10-14 days. The disease was self-limited, and no mortality was found in our series. To our knowledge, this is the first report of this disease entity in Chinese children.