Ameena Shahwar, Noor-ul Sabah Butt, Laraib Rasul, Mehak Fatima, Mudassar Fiaz, Omer Fraz, Ali Chaudhary.
An Experience with Anorectal Malformations at a Tertiary Care Centre of Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
Pak Paed J Jan ;46(3):288-94.

Objective: To assess, clinical data of patients with anorectal malformations (ARMs), maternal risk factors and VACTERL (vertebral defects, anal atresia, cardiac defects, trachea-esophageal fistula, renal anomalies, and limb) anomalies in pediatric patients presenting with ARMs. Study Design: Cross-sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: Pediatric Surgery Department of Holy Family Hospital from January 2021 to August 2022. Material and Methods: 117 Patients diagnosed with ARM were included. Socio-demographic variables and details of selected maternal characteristics were obtained from history of the patient. Patients were examined for the presence of VACTERL anomalies. SPSS Version 21 was used for descriptive analysis. Chi square test was applied to see the association. Results: 117 pediatric patients (9.75%) with ARMs were evaluated out of a total of 1200 pediatric patients in our tertiary care center. 71 were males (60.7%) and 46 (39.3%) were females. Only 5 (4.3%) were pre-term. Family history of ARMs was found in 7 (6%) patients. Recto-urethral fistula (34.57%) was the most common type. VACTERL abnormalities were found in 50 (42.73%) of the study subjects. Out of 117 patients with ARM, 13 (11.11%) ultimately passed away. VACTERL anomalies were found in 12 (92.3%) of these expired patients. Conclusion: Patients with ARMs should undergo a comprehensive examination because of the high risk of morbidity and mortality due to the presence of comorbid abnormalities.

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