Clinical aspects of Guillain Barré syndrome in paediatrics

Abstract

Introduction: Guillain Barré syndrome (GBS) is the most common acute paralytic neuropathy worldwide. The prognosis of severe GBS is still unfavorable. Therefore, recognize the particularities of different presentations is one of the most important pillars of management. Aim: Describe the clinical/paraclinical and outcome particularities of children hospitalized for GBS. Methods: a retrospective descriptive study was conducted over a 10-years period (2011 to 2020), including children meeting the diagnostic criteria for GBS. Results: We included 20 children. The main reason for consultation was extensive motor deficit (95%), swallowing disorder (25%) and acute respiratory failure (10%). A severe presentation of GBS was retained among 9 patients (45%). On neurophysiological exploration, the neuropathy was demyelinating in 4 cases and axonomyelinating in 3 others. Hospitalization in Pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) was required for 17 children. Polyvalent immunoglobulin infusion was done with all patients. A complete recovery was observed in 4 patients and partial recovery in 9 patients. Conclusion: The epidemiological and clinical factors associated with severity are poorly identified. A more in-depth study of these factors and therapeutic modalities would be of help in improving the prognosis.