Hematological Assessments of Children with Oral Aphthous Ulcer in Diyala Governorate, Iraq

Abstract

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Although the terms “aphthous ulcers” and “aphthous stomatitis” have been used interchangeably in the past, the latter is now preferable. It is a widespread illness that affects 20% of the general population and 9% of children, according to estimates. Due to the high prevalence, pediatric patients who complain of mouth ulcers frequently present to medical and dental specialists. OBJECTIVES: Hematological assessments of patients with oral aphthous ulcer and comparison with healthy control. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A case–control study of 120 kids was conducted. The study included 100 patients with oral aphthous ulcer (56 male and 44 female) and a group of 20 healthy controls (10 males and 10 females). Data were collected using questionnaires. The questionnaires had two sections. The first section involved personal information. The second section is related to hematological examinations, such as hemoglobin level, serum iron level, folic acid level, Vitamin B12 level, and mean corpuscular volume. Statistical analysis was carried out using the t-test, and the LSD was employed to significantly compare the means. RESULTS: The level of hemoglobin in the control group was statistically highly significantly increased when compared with patients with mean ± standard error (SE) (13.14 ± 0.20) versus mean ± SE (10.39 ± 0.19). Serum iron showed an increased level in the control group compared to patients with statistically showed highly significant correlation with mean ± SE (71.77 ± 5.14) versus mean ± SE (46.76 ± 2.79). A highly significant correlation existed when compared the control group and patients concerning Vitamin B12 levels with mean ± SE (517.02 ± 28.11) versus mean ± SE (367.32 ± 21.25). CONCLUSIONS: Hemoglobin, serum iron, and Vitamin B12 levels of patients are higher than that of controls. It is very important to observe the hemoglobin, folic acid, Vitamin B12, and serum iron levels in patients with oral ulcer before it starts to suggest treatments for oral ulcer.