title: Management of the acute abdomen in children with leukemia.
abstract: With the increase in remission and survival in children with acute leukemia, the complication of acute abdomen has become increasingly important in the total care of these children. A total of 286 children with acute leukemia was treated at Memorial Hospital between 1966 and 1971. Sixteen or 5.6% of these children developed an acute abdomen during the course of their disease. During the same period, many other children developed symptoms and signs mimicking an acute abdomen. Of the 9 children treated surgically, 5 were long-term survivors. Two children treated conservatively died, and 5 patients were diagnosed at autopsy. Prognosis was better in those patients in remission at the time of surgery, and where remission was maintained by immediately restarting antileukemic chemotherapy. A more aggressive surgical approach to the acute abdomen, combined with careful supportive measures, is further adding to the numbers of long-term survivors in childhood leukemia.
mesh_terms: D000006:Abdomen, Acute / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000601:surgery; D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007945:Leukemia, Lymphoid / Q000150:complications*; D008297:Male; D011379:Prognosis; D012075:Remission, Spontaneous