Galila Mokhtar, Sanaa Shaaban, Nancy Elbarbary, Wafaa Othman.
Gastrointestinal problems experienced during treatment among Egyptian pediatric cancer patients: a single center experience.
Pak Paed J Jan ;36(1):27-34.

Objectives: The objective of the study is to evaluate gastrointestinal problems in cancer patients during treatment. Patients and methods: In a sample of 150 children having different childhood malignancies, the frequency, pattern and risk factors of gastrointestinal (GIT) symptoms were analyzed. Results: Almost 30% of pediatric cancer patients experienced one or more episode of GIT problems. Overall prevalence of anticipatory vomiting was 12%, acute vomiting was 51.33%; delayed vomiting was 26% that was highest on day 2 with 18% experiencing vomiting and decreased to 8% by day 5. Expectancy of nausea was found to be a strong predictor of subsequent occurrence of nausea and vomiting (P=0.047) as well as the chemotherapeutic regimen potentiality that significantly affected delayed vomiting (P=0.02). Other predictive factors as age, gender, severity did not affect various forms of vomiting (P=0.156, P=0.802, P=0.147 respectively). Forty percent of the enrolled patient suffered from mucositis, ranging from grade 1 to 3 according to WHO classification mostly associated with neutropenia, radiotherapy exposure and low body mass index. Clinical features of oral candidiasis were present in 10% of patients. 28% of the enrolled patients had attacks of diarrhea while 11.33% experienced constipation mostly due to vincristine and/or opioids, 18% had altered perception of taste or smell. Conclusion: The gastrointestinal symptoms are common in cancer patients. Early recognition of GIT symptoms is essential for early intervention and guide nutritional support.

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