Abstract:

Gastrointestinal system endoscopic investigations are currently common in most major hospitals and they can also be safely performed in children. This study aims to evaluate the diagnostic importance of pediatric endoscopic biopsies. METHODS: This is a retrospective descriptive hospital-based study, conducted from December 2016 to January 2018. All children (1 to 18 years old) who underwent gastrointestinal system endoscopy during the study period were included in this study. Biopsy slides of patients were reevaluated by two pathologists. The present study included 160 children (56 males and 104 females). The most common indication leading to endoscopic examination was abdominal pain and vomiting (50.7%). No complications were detected either from the procedure itself or sedation given. Duodenitis was detected in 20% of cases, bulbitis in 28%, gastritis in 65% and esophagitis in 17%. The rate of Helicobacter pylori infection was 35%. The incidence of Celiac diseases was 7.5% in the small bowel biopsies. On colonoscopy, pathological findings were observed in 67.8% of cases. Gastrointestinal endoscopic biopsy examination has also become a valuable and informative diagnostic method in children. Nowadays, making the process very easy to implement is meaningful in terms of protecting children from unnecessary treatments.

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