RESUMEN
Hirschsprung's disease [HD] as an organic cause of children constipation is only treated by surgical intervention. Regarding of variety of clinical manifestation of HD and lack of information about it in Sari, this study describes the prevalence of HD in constipated children referring to BooAli Hospital. This descriptive study was undertaken on children with protracted constipation and neonate suspicions for HD referring to BooAli Sina Hospital of Sari [1997-2006]. Clinical and pathological data of patients were collected from their records and analyzed using SPSS 13 software. 226 children were presented with constipation at a mean age of 30.6 +/- 34.8 months [range, 0.69-1.6 months]. Rectal biopsy performed in 187 cases. HD was diagnosed in 59.4% of biopsied patients. The mean age of patients diagnosed was 24.8 +/- 33.2 months. 27.1% patients with HD were diagnosed in the first month, 44.1% in 1-12, 18% in 12-48 and 10.8% in over 48 months. This study revealed 59.4% of protected chronically constipated children had HD, indicating usefulness of rectal biopsy in these patients