[Gastrointestinal system duplications in children (19 cases)].

UNLABELLED: Digestive duplications are a rare condition in children, characterized by an important anatomoclinical polymorphism. Diagnosis suspected on clinics and evoked by radiology, require histological confirmation.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: Nineteen children with duplications were managed in our department, from 1989 to 2001: their hospital chart was retrospectively studied.

RESULTS: Ten of our patients were less than one year of age, ten were boys and nine were girls. Clinical signs consisted of pain and abdominal mass, with some transit disturbs, and these signs led to ultrasonography and tomodensitometry. In one case alimentary tract duplication was revealed by digestive hemorrhage, leading to scintigraphic study. The digestive duplications were localized on the stomach in one case, the duodenum in two cases, the jejuno-ileum in twelve cases, the colon in two cases, and the rectum in two cases. Five digestive duplications were tubular, with one communicating duplication. All cases benefited from surgical treatment, and resection procedure was chosen according to duplication type and site. Histological study showed eight cases of ectopic mucosa, six ectopic gastric mucosa and two pancreatic ectopic mucosa.

CONCLUSION: Diagnosis and surgical precocious treatment of digestive duplications are the only way to warn complications of this benign pathology.