Clinical Characteristics and Ultrasonographic Findings of Acute Bacterial Enterocolitis in Children

This study clarified the bacterial pathogens currently causing acute infectious enterocolitis (AIE) in children and evaluated the clinical characteristics and ultrasonographic findings according to the different pathogens. Medical records regarding age, sex, clinical symptoms, laboratory data, identified enteropathogens, ultrasonographic findings, treatment, and outcome of 34 patients who were diagnosed with AIE via stool examination using multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) or culture, were retrospectively reviewed. Twenty-four patients (70.6%) were male. The mean age of the patients was 8.5±6.2 (range, 1.1-17.1) years. Six bacterial pathogens were isolated: species (spp.) (32.4%), spp. (20.6%), verotoxin-producing (14.7%), (11.8%), (8.8%), and spp. (2.9%). Abdominal pain occurred in all patients regardless of pathogen. The patients infected with were older than those infected with verotoxin-producing (