Investigation of treatment side effects in pediatric tuberculosis cases being followed between 2016-2021 in Uludağ University, Department of pediatric infectious diseases

Ninety-four patients who received treatment with the diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB) in Uludağ University Pediatric Infectious Diseases Department between 2016-2021 were retrospectively analyzed. 52% of the patients had pulmonary tuberculosis; On the other hand, 6.4% have more than one involvement site. The most common extrapulmonary TB is TB lymphadenitis, observed in 14% of patients. The history of tuberculosis contact was found to be 38.3%. A significant relationship was found between contact and lung involvement (p<0.001). Tuberculin skin test (TST) was positive in 77.8% of the patients. The relationship between contact and prophylaxis was significant (p=0.005). The most common complaint was cough (18.18%) followed by fever (16.53%) and weakness (11.57%). 26% of the patients had normal physical examination at the time of diagnosis. The most common (41.3%) finding on chest X-ray is infiltration, while the least (3.8%) finding is cavity. The most common finding on thorax CT is lymphadenopathy in 27.01%, followed by infiltration, ground glass, and bud branch appearance. ARB positive in 18%, PCR positive in 23.4% and culture positive in 20.21% of patients were determined. The mean duration of treatment is 9.6 months in pulmonary TB and 10.3 months in extrapulmonary TB. Side effects were observed in 46% of the patients. The most common side effect is hepatotoxicity with 22.34%. Hepatotoxicity and uric acid elevation lasted an average of 15 days, and GIS (gastrointestinal) side effects lasted 11 days. There was more than one side effect in 71.4% of the patients who had a change in treatment, which was statistically significant (p<0.001). Side effects recurred in 38.6% of the patients. No sequelae were observed after side effects. Recovery was observed in 84% of the patients, and no TB-related death was observed. Despite the decrease in the incidence of childhood TB, it continues to be a very important public health problem in the world and in our country. Creating public awareness about TB disease is very important in the fight against the disease. Key words: Tuberculosis, child, side effects, hepatotoxicity.