Abstract

LOPEZ, JUAN JOSÉ; ANGEL, DIANA  and  LANCHEROS, DIOCEL. Henoch-Schönlein Purpura with abdominal involvement. Case report and a review of the literature. CES Med. [online]. 2013, vol.27, n.2, pp.243-254. ISSN 0120-8705.

Henoch-Schönlein purpura (PSH) is the most common small blood vessels vasculitis of childhood. It is characterized by palpable purpura, arthritis, abdominal pain and renal involvement. Gastrointestinal manifestations are highly variable; its most frequent is abdominal pain with varying degrees of severity. The management is supportive and with analgesics and immunosuppressive agents. We present a child who developed severe abdominal pain, so much that he was underwent surgery. After that, He presented the typical skin lesions: palpable purpura. His abdominal pain intensified, his food intake decreased and then his weight decreased progressively. The management failed with different analgesics and corticosteroids even at high doses. Then we administered intravenous gammaglobulin 1 gr/kg/day for two days with rapid and sustained resolution of pain and improvement of food intake. Although Henoch-Schönlein purpura is generally a benign and rapid recovery condition, some cases like the one described, show that some patients need more individualized handling, leaving so much to investigate and learn from this disease.

Keywords : Henoch-Schönlein purpura; Abdominal pain; Immunoglobulin.

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