RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: To characterize pediatric patients undergoing esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) in a high-complexity hospital. PATIENTS AND METHOD: Retrospective study in patients under 14 years of age who underwent EGD at the Hospital San Vicente Fundación de Medellín, between January 2019 and June 2020. The following sociodemographic characteristics were evaluated: age, sex, type of health insurance, place of origin, service where the procedure was indicated, indications for endoscopy, type of care, purpose of the procedure, endoscopic findings, endoscopic intervention, complications associated with the procedure or anesthesia, and relevance of the procedure. RESULTS: 466 patients who underwent 552 endoscopies were included. Fifty-seven percent of the patients were male. In diagnostic EGD, the main indications were abdominal pain (23%) and upper gastrointestinal bleeding (17%). In therapeutic EGD, the most frequently performed procedures were percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (41%), foreign body removal (27%), and esophageal dilation (24%). The complication rate related to the procedure was 0.5% and in relation to anesthesia was 0.7%. CONCLUSIONS: EGD in pediatric patients is an effective and safe tool if performed with an appropriate indication. One-third of therapeutic EGD could be avoided from primary prevention.