Lower Gastrointestinal Bleed in Children: Safety, Utility, and Yield of Colonoscopy: an Experience from a Large Tertiary Referral Endoscopy Center

Objective: There is paucity of data on lower gastrointestinal bleed (LGIB) in the pediatric population. We aimed to retrospectively review the endoscopy findings in patients younger than 18 years, presenting with lower gastrointestinal (GI) bleed and undergoing colonoscopy. Materials and Methods: Retrospective review of the endoscopy database at the department of gastroenterology at a tertiary care center from Western India was conducted between June 2017 until December 2021. Patients <= 18 years with LGIB, who underwent colonoscopy within 7 days of onset of bleed, were included in the study. Demographic details, endoscopic findings, and complications were noted. Results: In all, 55 patients were included in study (65% males; median age: 13 years [range: 1-18 years]). The most common endoscopic findings were polyps in 26 (47.2%) patients, colitis in 15 (27.2%) patients, solitary rectal ulcer syndrome (SRUS) in 6 (11.3%) patients, and hemorrhoids in 3 (5.4%) patients. Five (9%) patients had normal colonoscopy in whom the cause remained unidentified on further evaluation. However, no repeat episode was documented on a follow-up of 30 days. The most common location of a polyp was the rectum (64%). Two patients had multiple polyps (2 each). All the patients underwent a successful polypectomy. Pathology reported juvenile polyps in 25 biopsies. Four were diagnosed as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), while 11 had acute infective colitis. Patients with infectious colitis as compared to IBD had higher incidence of fever (55 vs. 0%) and lesser incidence of previous similar events (22 vs. 66%). Those with polyps were younger than those without polyps (9.1 vs. 14.3 years; p = 0.000). Polyps were significantly more common in boys (84%; 22/26; p = 0.014) than in girls. No complications occurred in this cohort of patients. Conclusions: Polyps are the most common cause of LGIB in patients <= 18 years, followed by colitis. Polyps were more common in younger males.