TITLE:
Management of Infectious Pleurisies in Three Hospitals in the South of Benin
AUTHORS:
Gilles Bognon, Caroline Padonou, Lutécia Zohoun, Nicole Tchiakpe, Roméo Dah-Bolinon, Gratien Sagbo
KEYWORDS:
Infectious Pleurisy, Respiratory Distress, Pleural Drainage
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Pediatrics,
Vol.12 No.1,
February
18,
2022
ABSTRACT: Objective: Infectious pleurisy is a frequent hospitalization indication in
pediatrics in developing countries. This study aims to describe infectious
pleurisies’ features and to identify its death factors in three teaching
hospitals in Benin. Design: This was a prospective, descriptive and
analytical study including children aged 01 months to 17 years who were
hospitalized in pediatrics in the three hospitals for pleurisy from September
to December 2019. Results: Among the 3379 children admitted, 25
presented with an infectious pleurisy, making a hospital frequency of 0.74%.
The sex ratio was 0.8. The majority (19/25) of the children were less than 5
years old. The mean age was 38 ± 5.88 months. Most of the parents had a low
education (42/50) and socio-economic status
(18/25). The main symptoms were fever (25 cases), dyspnea (23 cases) and
cough (22 cases). The majority of the children (21/25) were up-to-date in
regards with the Expanded Immunization Program (EIP) vaccines and none had
received non-EIP vaccines. Almost all children (24 cases) had a respiratory
distress (24/25). On chest X-ray, there were abundant pleural extravasations in
12 cases. The main pathogens found were Staphylococcus aureus (16
cases), Streptococcus pneumoniae (3 cases) and Streptococcus A (1
case). All children received oxygen and antibiotic therapy; pleural drainage
was performed in 22 children. The average length of stay was 14 days ± 6.4.
Twenty-one children were healed without sequelae, one child had a post-drainage
keloid scar, and two children died. Factors associated with the death of these
children were admission delay for more than 7 days (p = 0.035) and presence of
respiratory distress (p = 0.049). Conclusion: Pleurisy remains a concern
for children admitted in our hospitals and early management is imperative.