Meckel's Diverticulitis: About 5 Pediatric Observations Collected at the Nianankoro FOMBA Hospital in Ségou, Mali

Abstract

Meckel's diverticulitis or meckelitis is the infection of the Meckel's diverticulum. The aim of this work was to study the epidemiological, diagnostic, therapeutic and evolutionary aspects in the pediatric surgery department of the Nianankoro FOMBA hospital in Ségou, Mali. This was a retrospective study concerning observations between July 2010 and June 2012. We reported 5 observations in 2 years, representing a frequency of 2.5 cases per year. The average age was 6.6 years and the sex ratio was 1.5. Diagnostically, abdominal pain was the main reason for consultation followed by fever and vomiting. Physical examination found in all cases abdominal pain more or less associated with guarding in the right iliac fossa and peri-umbilical area. Abdominal bloating and contracture were noted in one case. There was hyperleukocytosis in all our 5 observations. The diagnosis was an operative discovery in 4 cases. Ultrasound was contributory in one case. Therapeutically, segmental resection of the small intestine removing the diverticulum, followed by immediate end-to-end anastomosis of the small intestine was the only technique performed in all our patients. The postoperative course was simple in 4 cases. A wall abscess with a favorable outcome was noted. Histological examination confirmed meckelitis at different stages (inflammatory, abscessed, gangrenous or necrotic). Gastric heterotopia was noted in one observation.