[Accuracy of inpatient and outpatient gastric lavage in the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis in children].
OBJECTIVE
To compare gastric lavage (GL) performed in inpatients with GL performed in outpatients in terms of its accuracy in diagnosing pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) in children.


METHODS
A prospective study was carried out in the state of Espírito Santo, Brazil, from 1999 to 2003. A total of 230 children suspected of having TB (103 inpatients and 127 outpatients) were selected to undergo GL. Those thus diagnosed with TB (n = 53) were divided into two groups: inpatient GL (n = 30) and outpatient GL (n = 23). All 53 children were monitored for 6 months in order to evaluate the accuracy of the diagnosis. Accuracy was determined based on any change in diagnosis, cure rate, and the percentage of positive cultures in the two groups studied.


RESULTS
The cure rate was 100% in both groups, and there was no change in diagnosis in the 53 children studied. No significant difference was found between the two groups studied in terms of detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (RR = 1.47; 95% CI: 0.95-2.27; p = 0.095), although the outpatient group presented a greater rate of positive cultures.


CONCLUSIONS
Our results show that the accuracy of GL performed in an inpatient setting is similar to that of GL performed in an outpatient setting. This indicates that hospitalization is required only in more severe cases in which GL cannot be performed as an outpatient procedure.
Maciel
Ethel Leonor Noia
EL
Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, Vitória, ES, Brasil. emaciel@ndi.ufes.br
Dietze
Reynaldo
R
Lyrio
Renata Peres
RP
Vinhas
Solange Alves
SA
Palaci
Moises
M
Rodrigues
Rodrigo Ribeiro
RR
Struchiner
Claudio Jose
CJ
D001500:BCG Vaccine; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005751:Gastric Lavage / Q000592:standards*; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000175:diagnosis; D006801:Humans; D007297:Inpatients; D008297:Male; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000302:isolation & purification; D010045:Outpatients; D011446:Prospective Studies; D014374:Tuberculin Test; D014397:Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology
D001500:BCG Vaccine