Clinical complications and outcome of febrile neutropenia in children at tertiary care hospital, Hazara Division

Abstract

Background: Febrile neutropenia is well-known complication in patients on chemotherapy. Despite the improvement in managements, infections are still major cause of morbidity and mortality. This study was done to determine the various clinical complications in children with febrile neutropenia and outcome during the hospital stay in a resource limited setup. Methods: This study was conducted in Paediatrics Department, Ayub Teaching Hospital, Abbottabad from 2017 to 2019. Children with diagnosed case of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) of age 2?15 years, getting chemotherapy, presented with fever and neutropenia were included. Clinical complications included thrombocytopenia, mucositis, profound neutropenia, ANC <100/mm³ and lower respiratory tract infection. Outcome was taken as improvement (afebrile for 72 hours) or death. Results: Out of 136 patients, 84 (61.8%) were males and 52 (38.2%) were females. Mean age was 6.58±3.49 years. Weight ranged from 5–58 Kg with mean weight 17.89±8.54. Improvement was in 107 (78.7%) patients while 29 (21.3%) died. Mucositis was in 67.6% patients and lower respiratory tract infection in 57.4% patients. Platelets count <20,000/mm³ was present in 85 (62.5%) patients. Conclusion: Lower respiratory tract, mucositis and profound neutropenia are the major complications associated with high mortality in febrile neutropenia children.

Pak J Physiol 2020;16(2):13?6