الفهرس 
INTRODUCTIONOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
The field of pediatric gastrointestinal endoscopy has improved and grown tremendously since the first reports of successful endoscopy in children were published in early 1970s. It has become a cornerstone among the variable modalities of diagnostic tools in pediatrics. Along with its diagnostic rule, the therapeutic endoscopic procedures in children have advanced rapidly in the last years.
The aim of this work is to analyze the clinical, laboratory, pathological and endoscopic data of the infants and children subjected to endoscopic procedures at the gastrointestinal endoscopy unit in Alexandria University Children’s Hospital (AUCH) in the last ten years (1996-2006).
This study was conducted on the available health records of the infants and children who had any endoscopic procedures at the gastrointestinal endoscopy unit in Alexandria University Children’s Hospital since the establishment of the unit (retrospective documentation). The study included also all the new patients who had upper or lower GIT endoscopy until 31st December 2006 (prospective documentation).
The total number of patients was 248 patients (151 males and 97 females). The range for age was 3 months-15 years. The patients were divided regarding analysis and description into two groups. The first group included the patients who had EGD (174 patients). The second group included the patients who had colonoscopy (74 patients). Tissue biopsies were taken when histopathological examination was necessary (135 patients, 82%).
The most common presenting symptoms for EGD were UGI bleeding followed by recurrent or chronic abdominal pain (RAP). These were followed by chronic diarrhea and vomiting.
UGI bleeding (Hematemesis ± melena) was the main indication for EGD (104 patients, 59.8%). The main causes for UGI bleeding were chronic gastritis (primary 39.4% and secondary or idiopathic 17.3%), GERD with reflux esophagitis (20%) and esophageal varices (18.2%).
Recurrent abdominal pain (RAP) was the second important indication for EGD (43 patients, 24.7%). The main cause for RAP was gastritis (primary 76.8% and secondary or idiopathic 18.6%).
Chronic diarrhea was present in (13 patients, 7.4%). The main causes were Celiac disease (38.5%), intestinal lymphangectasia (15.4%), post enteritis enteropathy(15.4%), % and abetalipoproteinemia (7.7%).