title: Diagnosis, Symptoms, and Outcomes of Hirschsprung's Disease from the Perspective of Gender.
abstract: Background/Aim. Hirschsprung's disease (HD) has a skewed gender distribution, with a female to male ratio of 1 : 4. This study aims to examine differences between boys and girls with HD regarding preoperative features and postoperative treatment and outcome.Method. The first part of the study was conducted as a retrospective review of all HD patients who underwent transanal endorectal pull-through (TERPT). Pre-, peri-, immediate post-, and first-year postoperative data were collected. The second part was conducted as an observational cross-sectional study by comparing bowel function scores (BFS) determined by structured interviews of patients 4 years old and older.Results. Included were 39 boys and 12 girls. Of these, 25 boys and 9 girls were older than 4 years and participated in the BFS interview. Boys had a higher frequency of hospitalizations during the first postoperative year compared to girls (n= 20 andn= 2,p< 0.05). At long-term follow-up, more boys reported abnormal frequency of defecation, 16 compared to 2 (p< 0.05). There was no difference between genders in terms of preoperative symptoms and overall bowel function later.Conclusion. Boys with HD had more hospitalizations and a higher rate of abnormal frequency of defecation than girls with HD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Surgery, Skåne University Hospital and Institution of Clinical Research, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.
authors.forename: Christina
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-6498-6145
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Granéli
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Surgery, Skåne University Hospital and Institution of Clinical Research, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.
authors.forename: Eero
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Dahlin
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Surgery, Skåne University Hospital and Institution of Clinical Research, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-0058-7713
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Börjesson
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Surgery, Skåne University Hospital and Institution of Clinical Research, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.
authors.forename: Einar
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-6624-4716
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Arnbjörnsson
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Surgery, Skåne University Hospital and Institution of Clinical Research, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.
authors.forename: Pernilla
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-5052-9944
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Stenström