ABSTRACT:
Background:
Typhoid fever, also known as enteric fever, is a public health problem and one of the most dreaded complications of typhoid fever is typhoid intestinal perforation (TIP). Surgical treatment of TIP is fraught with complications. The aim of this study was to evaluate our experience with regards to post-operative complications that occurred following laparotomy for TIP.
Materials and Methods:
This was a retrospective analysis of children aged 15 years and younger who had laparotomy for TIP at the pediatric surgery unit of a teaching hospital in Enugu, Nigeria. The study covered a 5-year period. The diagnosis of TIP was made based on clinical, investigative, intra-operative findings and histopathological confirmation.
Results:
A total of 118 patients aged between 7 years and 15 years with a median age of 8 years were operated upon for TIP. There were 71 (60.2%) males and 47 (39.8%) females with a male female ratio of 1.5:1. Fever and abdominal pain were present in all the patients. Single ileal perforation was the predominant intra-operative finding and primary closure of the ileal perforation was mostly performed. The overall complication rate was 66.9%. The most common post-operative complication was wound infection. The 16 (13.6%) patients expired secondary to overwhelming infections.
Conclusion:
Amongst all the surgical complications of typhoid fever, TIP is the most feared. More males were affected. Fever and abdominal pain were consistent symptoms in the patients. Single ileal perforation occurs commonly and wound infection was frequent post-operatively.
KEYWORDS:
Complications, ileal, salmonella, typhoid intestinal perforation, wound infection.
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