Endoscopic findings in children
The records include 527 children (3.5 % of 14,944 where the age can be ascertained), where children are defined as 16 years or below. Only five doctors carried out endoscopy on children, one a paediatrician (238 procedures of all and 39/70 (55 %) of those in children under 5 years of age). The majority were normal, but peptic ulceration and oesophageal varices were common also (Table 5).
Table 5 Endoscopic findings in children
Rank order Oesophagus, n = 510 Stomach, n = 501 Duodenum, n = 462
1 Normal 400 (78) Normal 417 (83) Normal 385 (83)
2 Varices 49 (10) Gastritis 44 (9) Duodenal ulcers 41 (9)
3 Stricture 16 (3) Gastric ulcers 17 (3) Duodenitis 26 (6)
4 Oesophagitis 7 (3) Gastric outlet obstruction 9 (2) Vascular lesion 4 (1)
5 Hiatus hernia 7 (1) Growths/polyps 5 (1) Villous atrophy 3 (1)
6 Ulcers 4 (1) Gastric erosions 4 (1) Polyp 2 (0.5)
7 Other 1 (0.2) Vascular lesions 2 (0.5) Stricture 1 (0.2)
Endoscopic findings in children in descending order of frequency n (%). Percentages are shown in brackets