Ethel Leonor Noia Maciel, Reynaldo Dietze, Renata Peres Lyrio, Solange Alves Vinhas, Moises Palaci, Rodrigo Ribeiro Rodrigues, Claudio Jose Struchiner
J Bras Pneumol.2008;34(6):404-411
Objective: To compare gastric lavage (GL) performed in inpatients with GL performed in outpatients in terms of its accuracy in diagnosing
pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) in children. Methods: A prospective study was carried out in the state of Espírito Santo, Brazil, from 1999 to 2003.
A total of 230 children suspected of having TB (103 inpatients and 127 outpatients) were selected to undergo GL. Those thus diagnosed with
TB (n = 53) were divided into two groups: inpatient GL (n = 30) and outpatient GL (n = 23). All 53 children were monitored for 6 months in
order to evaluate the accuracy of the diagnosis. Accuracy was determined based on any change in diagnosis, cure rate, and the percentage
of positive cultures in the two groups studied. Results: The cure rate was 100% in both groups, and there was no change in diagnosis in the
53 children studied. No significant difference was found between the two groups studied in terms of detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis
(RR = 1.47; 95% CI: 0.95-2.27; p = 0.095), although the outpatient group presented a greater rate of positive cultures. Conclusions: Our results
show that the accuracy of GL performed in an inpatient setting is similar to that of GL performed in an outpatient setting. This indicates that
hospitalization is required only in more severe cases in which GL cannot be performed as an outpatient procedure.
Keywords: Gastric lavage; Tuberculosis; Diagnosis.