Clinico-laboratory Profile of Childhood Tuberculosis Admitted at a Tertiary Hospital in Nepal

Aims: To describe the clinical and laboratory profile of children admitted with Tuberculosis at a tertiary care hospital in Nepal.

Study Design: Retrospective study.

Place and Duration of Study: Department of Pediatrics, Patan Academy of Health Sciences, between April 2013 and April 2018.

Methodology: All childhood TB patients (age 0-15 years) admitted to Patan Hospital from April 2013 to April 2018 (5 years) were included in the study. Medical record files of the eligible patients were retrieved from the medical records section. Medical record files, reports of chest x-rays and laboratory investigations were reviewed and information regarding diagnosis and treatment of TB was filled in a pre-designed proforma. Collected data were entered and analysed in Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS version 25.0) software.

Results: A total of 64 patients were admitted with the diagnosis of TB in the Department of Paediatrics at Patan Hospital from April 2013 to April 2018. The median age of the patients was 7.8 years, age ranging from 4 months to 15 years. Male to female ratio was 1.56:1. Extra-pulmonary TB (59.38%) was more common than pulmonary TB (40.62%). Fever (79.68%) was the most common presenting symptoms. Among extra-pulmonary TB, pleural effusion (39.47%) and abdominal TB (26.31%) were the most common diseases. TB meningitis was the least common disease, seen in only 3 patients.

Conclusion: Childhood TB is prevalent but underdiagnosed disease our setting. Extrapulmonary TB is more common in children, pleura and abdomen being the most common sites. Microbiological confirmation of TB in children is very low, so the diagnosis of TB in children largely depends upon clinical signs and symptoms along with supportive laboratory investigations.