Interconsultas em reumatologia pediátrica: casuística de hospital terciário no Sul do Brasil

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To describe the clinical-epidemiological profile of pediatric patients seen via inter-consultation in a pediatric rheumatology (PR) outpatient clinic. METHODS: Cross-sectional and observational study that analyzed the medical records of patients seen in the form of inter-consultations in a PR outpatient clinic of a tertiary hospital for 14 months. Epidemiological, clinical history and laboratory tests data were collected and descriptive statistics were performed. RESULTS: we included 37 patients, 27 (73%) females and 10 (27%) males, with a median age of 12.4 years (min: 1.3 max: 15.9). After several complementary exams, the patients were referred by 13 different specialties, with a predominance of pediatric dermatology. In the first consultation with a pediatric rheumatologist, the main complaints were arthralgia (51.3%), skin blemishes (32.4%) and skin rash (29.7%). The period between symptoms onset and the consultation ranged between 16 and 4,554 days, with a median of 730 days. Twenty (54.1%) patients had the exclusion of a rheumatological disease, three (8.1%) lost follow-up and 14 (37.8%) were diagnosed with rheumatological diseases, the most common being linear scleroderma (28, 6%), juvenile systemic lupus erythematosus (28.6%), juvenile idiopathic arthritis (14.3%) and juvenile dermatomyositis (14.3%). CONCLUSIONS: The main complaints of patients referred to PR were arthralgia and skin lesions, with a long period of symptom evolution, in addition to a wide age range and the predominant role of female patients. In addition, prior to the pediatric rheumatologist evaluation, the patients consulted several specialties and were exposed to several complementary exams.

Keywords

• pediatrics
• rheumatology
• referral and consultation
• pediatric rheumatologyl