Laparoscopic-assisted Management of Bleeding Meckel’s Diverticulum in Children

A BSTRACT Aim: This research aims to study the clinicodemographic profile of children with bleeding Meckel’s diverticulum (MD) and the role of laparoscopy in their management. Materials and Methods: It is a retrospective analysis of all the patients of painless lower gastrointestinal (LGI) bleeding who underwent diagnostic laparoscopy followed by laparoscopic-assisted resection of MD at a tertiary care pediatric hospital in North India from March 2019 to March 2023. Results: Diagnostic laparoscopy was positive in 17 out of 18 patients (MD = 15, ileal duplication = 2). The mean age of patients with MD was 35.08 ± 27.24 months, with male:female ratio of 2:1 and duration of symptoms ranging from 5 days to 8 months. All of them presented with recurrent bouts of bleeding per rectum and anemia. Seven had hemoglobin <7 g/dl, while 9 needed >2 packed red blood cell transfusions. Three patients presented with shock and needed resuscitation. All the patients underwent laparoscopic-assisted surgical resection with a mean operative time of 72.6 ± 15.4 min; with 2/3 rd of them getting discharged between the 3 rd and 5 th postoperative day, and all of them within 10 days of surgery without any major complications. Conclusions: Laparoscopy has a diagnostic as well as therapeutic role in painless obscure major LGI bleeding in children. Laparoscopic-assisted resection of MD is safe, time-saving, and without major complications.