
Surgical complications in children with IgA vasculitis 139
Vol. 65(2): 134 - 142, 2024
intussusception in this study, ileo-ileal intus-
susception, ileum-colonic intussusception,
and jejunal-jejunal intussusception made up
57%, 28%, and 9.5% of all intussusceptions,
respectively. Colo-colonic intussusception
was seen in one patient. Of the seven chil-
dren with intestinal perforation, six had ileal
perforation, and one had jejunal perforation.
The incidence ofintestinal perforation is ba-
sically consistent with that in the literature.
Some researchers have suggested
19
that
air enema is the best reduction treatment for
IgAV-related early intussusception. Air enema
is minimally traumatic to children and can be
done more than once. It is difficult to differen-
tiate the abdominal pain caused by IgAV from
the abdominal pain caused by complicated in-
tussusception in IgAV because of certain simi-
larities in the symptoms. Intussusception that
occurs based on intestinal bleeding and edema
is associated with rapid progression and in-
testinal necrosis. On the other hand, ileo-ileal
intussusception is the most common kind, in
which the failure rate and recurrence rate of air
enema reduction is higher. This study relieved
intussusception only in four children after air
enema.
Children with IgAV-related surgical condi-
tions may develop serious and even life-threat-
ening complications. In this study, shock was
reported in four children (hemorrhagic shock
in one patient and septic shock in three pa-
tients), postoperative venous thrombosis in
three patients, renal insufficiency in one pa-
tient, coagulation disorders in one patient, and
adhesion intestinal obstruction in three pa-
tients, which required secondary surgery later.
Therefore, we should improve our understand-
ing of IgAV-related surgical complications to
make early diagnoses and provide the appropri-
ate surgical intervention.
The use of glucocorticoids for the treat-
ment of IgAV has been controversial. Some
researchers have suggested that early use of
glucocorticoids can significantly relieve ab-
dominal pain and reduce the risk of kidney
disease
20
. It can reduce the incidence
21
or
prevent intussusception
22
. Other research-
ers disagree
10,23
. The use of glucocorticoids
in patients with IgAV complicated with in-
tussusception may mask the symptoms of
intestinal perforation or aggravate the intus-
susception
24
. Foreign studies have reported
that IgAV-related intestinal perforation usu-
ally occurs two weeks after the application
of glucocorticoids
6
. In this study, all 21 chil-
dren with intussusception were treated with
glucocorticoids, and some were treated with
gamma globulin. The children’s abdominal
pain and purpura were alleviated. Of the sev-
en children with intestinal perforation in this
study, four had been taking glucocorticoids
for more than 20 days, and three of them de-
veloped severe infections with septic shock.
Therefore, the dosage and timing of gluco-
corticoids need to be further explored. How-
ever, it draws attention that from May 2016
to 2020, there is a registry of patients in the
pediatric population that are diagnosed with
IgA vasculitis (7,374 children), and none
of the reports state that the diagnosis was
confirmed through biopsies of white organs.
There are a fair amount of cases (it is because
the Hospital is a reference area, or the data
collected is national or local); they may also
have other pathologies that could be present-
ed through a similar clinical picture, which
would explain the large population reported.
The risk-benefit of a steroid treatment prior
to the appearance of surgical complications
cannot be assessed in this work.
Due to the limited study funding and
time, the deficiency of this study is the fail-
ure to collect the characteristics of each
case (onset, relevant laboratory tests, treat-
ment time before symptoms and signs, lapa-
rotomy results, air enema treatment, etc.).
Moreover, a range of examinations evaluate
the inflammatory response (CB, PCR, Dimer
D), and the predictive value and prognostic
value cannot be established with this work.
Our team will conduct the study in the fu-
ture. Meanwhile, a better collection of clini-
cal, laboratory, and imaging data is needed
to establish prognostic value in patients with
said pathology.