• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.155-160
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• 2011

Purpose: This study was performed to evaluate the role of colonoscopy in children with hematochezia. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 277 children who underwent colonoscopy because of hematochezia between January, 2003 and July, 2010. Results: The mean age of the patients was $6.0{\pm}4.4$ (7 days~17.8 years) years. The male to female ratio was 2.2:1. The duration between the 1st episode of hematochezia and colonoscopy was $4.9{\pm}12.1$ months. Characteristics of hematochezia included red stool (65.1%), blood on wipe (12.8%), bloody toilet (11.9%), and blood dripping (10.2%). The most proximal region of colonoscopic approach was terminal ileum (84.5%), cecum (9.5%), hepatic flexure (2.8%), and splenic flexure (3.2%). Eighty five patients (30.6%) had no specific abnormal findings. Major causes of hematochezia were polyp (26.4%), food protein induced proctocolitis (6.9%), infectious colitis (5.4%), lymphofolliculitis (5.7%), non specific colitis (5.7%), and vascular ectasia (5.1%). The hemorrhagic sites included the rectum (24.0%), rectosigmoid junction (18.1%), sigmoid colon (13.5%), ascending colon (14.2%), transverse colon (11.3%), descending colon (7.8%), cecum (8.1%), and terminal ileum (3.1%). The recurrence rate of hematochezia after colonoscopy was 19.1%. Colonoscopy was performed in 262 patients (94.6%) with conscious sedation. Endoscopic hemostasis was performed in 5 patients. Complications of colonoscopy or sedation were not found. Conclusion: The causes and lesional localization of pediatric hematochezia were diverse. Colonoscopy has an important role in the diagnosis and treatment of hematochezia in children. Total colonoscopy is recommended to detect the cause of hematochezia.