LAUSR

Background Coma is a common cause of hospitalization in children with insufficient scientific documentation in our area. Objective The objective of this work was to determine the clinical characteristics and management of coma in children under 14 years of age at Sino Congolese Friendship Hospital (HASC). Methods A retrospective study was carried out on the files of 1610 children hospitalized from 2015 to 2017, of whom 52 were in coma, or 3.23%.The clinical characteristics, pathological contexts, management and evolution of patients were evaluated. Results The age varied from 1 to 158 months, with a median of 48 months. The male predominated 71.15%. Seizures 84.62% and fever 63.47% were the main complaints associated with coma. Perinatal brain suffering was reported in 55.77%. Splenomegaly and hepatomegaly combined and splenomegaly alone were observed in 46.15% and 17.31% respectively. Malaria was diagnosed in 82.7% of which 44.23% were associated with meningitis. The thick drop was positive for malaria in 78.85% and disturbed inflammatory balance in 51.92%. The evolution under anti-malarial and/or antibiotic and adjuvant treatments was, for an average treatment duration of 16.6 days, favorable in 80.77% and the death rate was 5.77%. Conclusion At HASC, coma in children is mainly characterized by seizures and the infectious context on a history of perinatal brain suffering and a favorable evolution under anti-malarial and antibiotic treatments. Comprehensive studies are required.