THE ROLE OF ENDOSCOPY IN CAUSTIC INGESTION IN PEDIATRIC POPULATION: EXPERIENCE IN A TERTIARY CENTER.

Introduction Caustic ingestion in children is rare but has potentially serious consequences. Aim To analyze the clinical and endoscopic features, and the type of caustic ingested in our population. Methods We analyzed the upper endoscopies performed in this setting, as well as the characteristics of patients and caustics between the years 2010-2018. Results There were 51 endoscopies (48 in cases of witnessed intake or high suspicion of it, and 3 with low suspicion) in patients with a mean age of 2.55 years. Alkali ingestion was more frequent (88.2%), and 56.9% of the endoscopies were normal, which was more frequent among those who ingested bleach (72%). Alkali tended to produce more esophageal injuries (31.1%), and acids tended to produce esophageal (20%) and esophageal-gastric injuries (20%). Four patients developed esophageal stenosis in the follow-up. Discusion: Even though more than half of studies are normal, endoscopy is important in the diagnosis and prognosis of these patients.