ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Functional abdominal pain disorders (FAPD) are a group of functional gastrointestinal disorders with multifactorial etiology and are subclassified using Rome IV criteria into a series of clinically distinct entities represented by irritable bowel syndrome, functional dyspepsia, abdominal migraine and functional abdominal pain that is not otherwise specified. Digestive functional disorders associated with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) may be mediated by the involvement of complex pathogenic mechanisms, which have been under investigation in children since the beginning of the coronavirus disease pandemic (COVID-19). METHODS: In this retrospective, observational descriptive and analytical study, we investigated the presence of chronical functional abdominal pain in preschool children (4-6 years old) from the south-west of Romania in the pre-pandemic (18 cases) and COVID-19 pandemic period (34 cases), as well as the association with the COVID-19 positive and COVID-19 negative statuses, gender, environment origin, and viral infection-associated symptoms. Age-specific Rome IV criteria were used to diagnose functional abdominal pain. We performed an integrated statistical analysis of the results utilizing an electronic database in which we compared the data in order to assess the impact of COVID-19 on the clinical-epidemiological parameters analyzed. RESULTS: In the pre-pandemic group, irritable bowel syndrome predominated (77.8%), followed by functional dyspepsia (22.2%), the other types of functional abdominal pain being absent, while for the pandemic group, irritable bowel syndrome was the most common (79.4%), followed by abdominal migraine (11.8%), abdominal dyspepsia (5.9%) and functional abdominal pain not otherwise specified (2.9%). We found a female/male ratio difference of 0.84 and an urban/rural ratio of 1.83 in favor of the pandemic group. These discrepancies were mainly caused by the differences between the COVID-19 positive and negative pandemic groups, where we observed statistical association of the positive pandemic group with IBS and urban environment, and a tendency of FAPDs diagnostic mainly with males. The predominant symptoms associated with COVID-19 positive cases were digestive (60.9%) or respiratory (39.1%). CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrates viral-mediated sensitivity of the gastrointestinal tract in preschool children, considering different clinical-epidemiological profiles related to the prevalence of FAPD and according to gender and environment origin, while the contribution of the pandemic context remains to be demonstrated in larger studies.
ABSTRACT
The acute abdomen with its many clinical aspects is not a condition that eludes pregnancy; acute appendicitis being the most frequently incriminated, but when it comes to its complication - peritonitis and the pregnant is a teenager, the cases cited in the literature are quite rare. We present the case of a 15-year-old teenager pregnant within 24 weeks admitted from the emergency department with the diagnosis of acute abdomen and operated for generalized peritonitis due to a perforated appendicitis. The microscopic analysis of the specimen indicated the presence of ulceration and extensive and deep and necrosis of the appendicle wall, the residual structures being dissected by a predominantly polymorphonuclear leukocytes inflammatory infiltrate associated with eosinophilic fibrinous deposits. Gangrenous extended necrosis of appendicle tissues, on the background of inflammatory thrombosis of appendicle vessels and mesothelium, sustained the diagnosis of acute gangrenous appendicitis. After a rather difficult evolution, she gave birth to a healthy fetus through a segmental-transverse Caesarean section at 35 gestational weeks. One week after the birth, the patient was operated for bowel obstruction by means of bridles and adherents. Both the appendicitis and the intestinal obstruction syndrome have been resolved by classic surgery. The fetal and maternal, vital and functional prognosis was good.
