Abstract

This report summarizes our retrospective analysis of 173 colonoscopic examinations performed on 159 children over a period of 9 years in Kuwait. Ninety-six children were males, with a male to female ratio of 1.5:1. The main indications for colonoscopy were rectal bleeding, polyps, and suspected inflammatory bowel disease. Examination was done under sedation or anaesthesia. One hundred and fifty-one (87 per cent) examinations were complete up to the caecum and 89 (51 per cent) up to the terminal ileum. The most common pathology was polyps in 42 children. All but one polyp were hamartomatous and mainly localized to the rectum and sigmoid colon. The majority had a single polyp. One child had adenomatous polyposis coli. One hundred and forty-two polyps were removed endoscopically with no complications. Inflammatory bowel disease was present in 34 (21 per cent) children (17 Crohn's disease, 11 ulcerative colitis, and 6 indeterminate colitis). Tuberculosis of the ileo-caecal region was diagnosed in two cases. Seven patients had rectal ulcers presenting as rectal bleeding. In 11 (7 per cent), the lesions were limited to the right side of the colon or terminal ileum. These results suggest that colonic pathology is not uncommon in children in Kuwait. The disease pattern is similar to that reported in western countries. As we have observed in adults, inflammatory bowel disease is seen in significant numbers among children in this region. In this survey we have observed a change in the disease frequency, Crohn's disease being more common that ulcerative colitis. Without adequate examination, the existence of inflammatory bowel disease and this possible changing pattern of disease would have gone unrecognized.