Analysis of the causes of intestinal obstruction in children to see the impact of the results on healthy life

Abstract

Background: Intestinal obstruction is a big clinical hurdle in paediatric surgery, basically it means the normal aboral movement of intestinal contents is impaired. This issue is seen in children of all age brackets, and the causes can really shift, depending on age as well as the geographic setting. Objective: We aimed to look at the different aetiological causes of intestinal obstruction in children and also see how the real world clinical outcomes affect patient wellbeing. Methods: This was a prospective observational design done across several hospital centres in Iraq, from 14 January 2021 up to 7 March 2022. In total, 42 paediatric patients younger than 14 years old who came with intestinal obstruction were included. Data gathering and outcome assessment were carried out with SPSS statistical software, nothing fancy really just that. Results: Intestinal obstruction turned out to be most common in infants, with the highest number of cases in those under one year, which matches both local and national publications. An obstructed umbilical hernia was found in just 2 patients (1.54%). After surgery, the complications were mostly infective. Surgical site infection was the complication we saw most often at 20%, then postoperative pyrexia came next at 16% together making up 36% of the post-surgical adverse events. Septicaemia was also recorded, as a kind of additional, not the usual main one, but still notable. Conclusions: The acquired reasons for intestinal obstruction seem to come first in the Iraqi paediatric group, mostly tied to an upper gastrointestinal source. The way patients present clinically, and the overall cause pattern, line up with what has been described in earlier Iraqi studies, so it feels like a steady regional picture. After surgery, infectious complications, specifically surgical infection along with fever are the main forces behind the morbidity seen. Overall, these results point toward reinforcing perioperative infection control procedures in paediatric surgical wards, in order to get better health outcomes.