Ingestion of corrosive chemicals in children: 8-year experience at Amirkola Children's Hospital

Ingestion of corrosive substances in children is associated with complications and costs to the health care system. The aim of this study was to determine the incidence and complications of ingesting corrosive substances in children.

This cross-sectional study was conducted on children aged 6 months to 14 years who underwent upper endoscopy at Amirkola Children's Hospital during 2014-2021 for complaints of corrosive ingestion. Information studied included demographic information, type of corrosive substances, clinical symptoms, endoscopic findings, complications, and laboratory results.

In the 79 children (mean age of 31.33±20.38 months), 65.8% were boys, the most common type of ingested substance was alkaline (86.1%) and the most common ingested substance was bleach (69.6%). Totally, 70.1% of children had symptoms. The most common clinical symptoms were vomiting (68.4%) and oral lesions (39.2%). The esophagus (59.5%) was more affected than the stomach, and the most common esophageal endoscopic finding was grade 1 esophagitis (45.6%). No significant relationship was found between clinical symptoms, the incidence of esophageal-gastric involvement, or the severity of esophageal involvement. Leukocytosis (p=0.009), the increase in C-reactive protein (CRP) (p=0.001), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) (p=0.007), and blood sugar (BS) (p=0.019) were significantly related to the severity of esophageal involvement.

The results of the study showed that the rate of dangerous side effects caused by ingestion of corrosive substances was not high in children, but often caused by the use of alkaline drain openers, so attention and appropriate diagnostic measures are recommended, as well as preventive measures.