Colonic stenosis in pediatric population: a retrospective study

Abstract

Abstract Background Colonic stenosis is a rare disease in pediatric populations, it may lead to a serious intestinal obstruction. Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is one of the reasons that lead to the non-congenital colon stenosis. In the present study, we display our experience and findings for the pediatric colonic stenosis to explore the general feathers and outcomes of the colonic stenosis are essential for surgeons to make a better choice for individual therapy. Methods This is a retrospective study of patients who diagnosed as colonic stenosis from January 2018 to December 2022 at Wuhan children’s hospital. We divided the patients into the NEC group, suspected-NEC group and Non-NEC group. Patients clinical characteristics including symptoms, risk factors, surgical procedure, pathology, hospital stay and postoperative outcomes were collected and analyzed. Patients were followed up for 6 months to 2 years for any gastrointestinal symptoms. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 28.0 software. Results Total of 30 patients was enrolled in this study. There were 16 patients in the NEC group, 7 patients in the suspected-NEC group, and 7 patients in Non-NEC group. The male to female ratio was higher in the NEC group. There was more premature infants in NEC group. The weight in NEC and suspected-NEC group was lower than Non-NEC group. There were more artificial feeding cases in NEC group. The hospital stay in NEC group was longer for the first administration. Next, we observed postoperation complications and found 2 patients had wound infection and 1 patient had adhesive ileus and 1 patient had anastomosis stenosis in NEC group, 1 patient had would infection in suspected-NEC group, and 1 patient had would infection in Non-NEC group. For follow up, 2 patients had intestinal obstruction and 3 patients had colitis in NEC group, 1 patient had bloody stool in suspected-NEC group, and 1 patient had an intestinal obstruction in Non-NEC group, all of them cured after conservative therapy. Conclusions Artificial feeding, NEC and bowel inflammation are the important risk factors for stenosis.