RESUMO
This paper presents a multidisciplinary approach to treat children with failure to thrive (FTT). The FTT team of the Instituto Costarricense de Investigación y Enseñanza en Nutrición y Salud (INCIENSA) is composed of professional staff, including pediatrician, nutritionist, psychologist and social worker. They evaluate each patient and provide an integrated treatment. The early detection and the appropriate management of children with FTT will improve the physical and psychosocial condition of these patients.
Assuntos
Insuficiência de Crescimento/terapia , Assistência Ambulatorial , Criança , Criança Hospitalizada/psicologia , Pré-Escolar , Terapia Combinada , Costa Rica , Insuficiência de Crescimento/diagnóstico , Insuficiência de Crescimento/psicologia , Seguimentos , Humanos , LactenteRESUMO
To determinate the different characteristics of growth and development that could categorize the etiology of failure to thrive (FTT), we analyzed 174 patients hospitalized because of FTT. Forty-eight percent had "organic and psychosocial" causes, and fifty-two percent had "non- organic" causes. The predominant organic factors were intrauterine retardation (41%) and gastrointestinal pathology (24%). Children with genetic and neurologic diseases were significantly more stunted and wasted than those of the "non-organic category (p less than 0.05). At discharge, the anthropometric data of the patients with genetic pathology remained with lower values than the ones observed in the other categories (p less than 0.05). The genetic and neurologic categories had the higher percentages of psychomotor retardation, and this impairment didn't improve after treatment. In all the categories, the motor areas were most retarded at the time of admission; nevertheless, they showed the higher percentage of recovery.