CLASSIFICATION OF CLINICAL MANIFESTATIONS AND MACROSCOPIC ENDOSCOPIC FINDINGS IN PATIENTS WITH CAUSTIC INGESTION ATTENDING LATTAKIA UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL

*Hiner Abdo, Souad Sakkour and Ali Ibrahim

ABSTRACT

Background: Caustic ingestions represent a source of significant morbidity and mortality in pediatric population. Aims: The aim of the current study was to determine the clinical and endoscopic manifestations of caustic ingestions. Patients and Methods: An observational descriptive study was conducted for the period one year (2024-2025) at Lattakia University Hospital in Syria. The study included all children with a history of caustic ingestions who underwent full clinical assessment as well as upper gastrointestinal endoscopy to detect macroscopic findings. Results: Patients ranged in age from 1.2 to 13 years old with an average age was 4.58±3.3 years and 62.4% of the study sample were males. Sodium hypochlorite represented the most frequent ingested substances in 47.1% and the amount of ingested substance was ≤20 ml in 49.4%. Majority of cases (76.5%) occurred accidentally and emesis represented the most frequent symptom in 68.2%. Endoscopy was performed in 47 cases and abnormal findings distributed as follows; esophagus (38.3%), gastric (48.9%) and in both gastric and esophagus (29.8%). Presence of esophageal findings increased significantly with increasing number of symptoms(p:0.04) and absence of oral injuries not excluded esophageal burns. Ingestion of acids was associated significantly with stomach findings whereas alkalis associated with esophageal burns(p<0.05). Strictures were detected in 8 cases(4 in gastric, 4 in esophagus) and all esophageal cases were managed successfully by dilation. Conclusion: The current study revealed that caustic ingestion is common among children, so taking preventive measures might lead to significant impact on reducing caustic injuries.

Keywords: Caustic, clinical, endoscopic, features, ingestion, Syria.