Características epidemiológicas de la neumonía recurrente en niños menores de 5 años ingresados en el Hospital Roberto Gilbert desde agosto de 2017 hasta agosto de 2018.

Abstract

Introduction: Recurrent pneumonia is defined as two or more episodes of pneumonia in one year or more than three pneumonias at any time (1). From 6.5 to 9% of pneumonias requiring hospitalization are recurrent pneumonia (1). More than 80% of recurrent pneumonia have a concomitant disease as a risk factor. As there is no coding in the international classification of diseases (ICD- 10), there is an important limitation for its identification and its adequate approach. The main objective of this study is to establish the epidemiological characteristics of pediatric patients hospitalized for recurrent pneumonia. Methods: An observational, retrospective, cross-sectional, descriptive study was designed in children under 5 years of age admitted with a diagnosis of recurrent pneumonia at the Roberto Gilbert Elizalde Hospital from August 2017 to August 2018. Results: A total of 108 patients were found. The prevalence of recurrent pneumonia was 0.6%. 33.3% showed some of the varieties of malnutrition. Among the comorbidities, gastroesophageal reflux occupied 33.3%, followed by central neurological diseases (22.2%) and cardiological diseases (10.3%). 20.3% of the patients had a history of prematurity. The average number of days of hospitalization was 17.6 days. 36.1% of the patients required admission to the critical care unit. Conclusions: Malnutrition is present in most patients with recurrent pneumonia. Gastroesophageal reflux and neurological disorders were the main comorbidities. The percentage of patients requiring critical care is high.