title: [Pediatric upper gastrointestinal endoscopy: experience in a hospital setting in Côte d'Ivoire].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this report was to describe epidemiological aspects of endoscopic upper gastrointestinal endoscopy at a pediatric teaching hospital in Cocody, Côte d'Ivoire.
  
  
  METHODS
  The records of all patients under 15 years of age who underwent upper gastrointestinal endoscopy in the gastrointestinal endoscopy unit of a teaching hospital of Cocody between January 1, 2000 and April 30, 2006 were reviewed. The following parameters were compiled: age, sex, indications, name of endoscopist, type of sedation, gastric biopsy to detect Helicobacter pylori, and endoscopic findings.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Pediatric gastroscopy accounted for 1% of procedures performed in the upper gastrointestinal endoscopy unit. Patient ages ranged from 6 months to 15 years and M/F sex ratio was 0.88. The procedures were ordered by general practitioners in 55% of cases, gastroenterologists in 14%, and pediatricians in 10%. Sedation with intravenous midazolam 0.25 was used in 74% of patients (n = 38). No incident or complication was observed. Tolerance of the examination by the child was considered as poor by the operator in 96% of cases. The main indications for endoscopy were epigastralgia in 54% of cases, vomiting in 13.7%, and gastrointestinal bleeding in 13.7%. The procedure was performed or supervised by an operator with over ten years of experience in gastrointestinal endoscopy in 55.1% and 54.0% of cases respectively. The main endoscopic finding was duodenogastric bile reflux in 23.5% of cases. Gastroscopy was normal in 43% of patients. Gastric biopsy to detect Helicobacter pylori was performed in 23% of patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Pediatric gastroscopy performed under mild sedation by experienced endoscopists is a safe procedure for detecting lesions and obtaining biopsies for histological examination.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Assi
authors.forename: A S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Thot'o
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Eloumou
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Lohouès
authors.forename: B M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Camara
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D007560:Cote d'Ivoire; D016099:Endoscopy, Gastrointestinal / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D005767:Gastrointestinal Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis; D006776:Hospitals, Pediatric; D006784:Hospitals, Teaching; D006801:Humans; D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives / Q000627:therapeutic use; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008874:Midazolam / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012189:Retrospective Studies
chemical_list: D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives; D008874:Midazolam