Peter Mwika1, Francis Osawa1, James Ndung’u1 and Timothy Jumbi2*
1Department of Surgery, College of Health Sciences, University of Nairobi, Kenya
2Department of Specialized Surgery, Paediatric Surgery Unit, Kenyatta National
Hospital, Kenya
*Corresponding Author: Timothy Jumbi, Department of Specialized Surgery, Paediatric Surgery Unit, Kenyatta National Hospital, Kenya.
Received: March 24, 2020; Published: April 16, 2020
Introduction: Anaemia is a contributor to significant morbidity in children with colostomies. The causes of anaemia maybe be multi-factorial the effect of which may impact on the growth and nutritional aspects of the child while ultimately delaying definitive surgery. To quantify the morbidity of anaemia in children with colostomies, we sought to objectively identify the association between the presence of colonic stomas and the levels of haemoglobin and mean corpuscular volume in a cohort of children managed in a tertiary hospital in Kenya.
Materials and Methods: A descriptive cohort study carried out in Kenyatta National hospital between 2015 and 2017 which recruited 40 patients in total. Blood samples were collected for haemoglobin and mean corpuscular volume levels as markers for anaemia. For comparison similar samples were collected from a pool of patients matched for age and sex with umbilical and inguinal hernia to serve as controls. Data was analysed and presented based on the hematologic indices above.
Results: There were 22 (55%) cases who met the definition of anaemia based on a haemoglobin cut off values compared to 13 (32.5%) controls. Both the mean haemoglobin level and mean MCV were significantly lower in the children with colostomies.
Conclusion: Colostomies are associated with anaemia in children. Identification and correction of anaemic states through screening, haematinics and colostomy care may mitigate the morbidity associated with anaemia.
Keywords: Hepatoblastoma; Liver; Chemotherapy
Citation: Timothy Jumbi., et al. “The Morbidity of Anaemia in Children with Colostomies. A Cohort-Based Study”. Acta Scientific Paediatrics 3.5 (2020): 03-04.
Copyright: © 2020 et alThis is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.