Comparison of sensitivities of contrast barium enema,anorectal manometry,and rectal suction biopsy in the diagnosis of Hirschsprung's disease in children of different ages

LIANG Peng; LI Wanfu

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1002-266X.2025.06.017

Abstract：Objective To compare the sensitivities of contrast barium enema(CE),anorectal manometry(ARM),and rectal suction biopsy(RSB)for the diagnosis of Hirschsprung's disease(HD)in children of different ages.Methods Totally 147 children aged 0-14 years who underwent surgical treatment and were definitely diagnosed as HD by postopera-tive pathological examination were selected and divided into the 0-<1 year old group(n=20),1-<3 years old group(n=38),3-<9 years old group(n=58),and 9 years old and above group(n=31).The results of preoperative CE,ARM,and RSB were retrospectively analyzed in each group,and we calculated and compared the sensitivities of three auxiliary exami-nation methods for diagnosing HD.Results CE,ARM,and RSB were performed in 20,18,and 19 cases in the 0-<1 year old group,38,33,and 37 cases in the 1-<3 years old group,58,51,and 55 cases in the 3-<9 years old group,and 27,31,and 26 cases in the 9 years old and above group,respectively.The sensitivities of CE,ARM,and RSB in the di-agnosis of HD were 70.00%(14/20),94.44%(17/18)and 100.00%(19/19)in the 0-<1 year old group,76.32%(29/38),93.94%(31/33)and 94.59%(35/37)in the 1-<3 years old group,84.48%(49/58),88.24%(45/51)and 98.18%(54/55)in the 3-<9 years old group,and 81.48%(22/27),70.97%(22/31)and 96.15%(25/26)in the 9 years old and above group,respectively.The comparison results between groups were as follows:the sensitivity of RSB in the diagnosis of HD in the 0-<1 year old group was higher than those of CE,and ARM(both P<0.05),but there was no significant difference in the sensitivity in the diagnosis of HD between CE and ARM(P>0.05).The sensitivity of RSB in the diagnosis of HD was higher than that of CE in the 1 to<3-year-old group(P<0.05).There was no statistically signifi-cant difference in the sensitivity of diagnosing HD between CE and ARM,as well as between ARM and RSB(both P>0.05).The sensitivity of RSB in the diagnosis of HD was higher than those of CE,and ARM in the 3-9 years old group(P<0.05),but there was no significant difference in the sensitivity in the diagnosis of HD between CE,and ARM(P>0.05).There was no significant difference in the sensitivity of diagnosing HD between CE,ARM,and RSB in the 9 years old and above group(P>0.05).The comparison results between groups were as follows:there was no significant difference in the sensitivity in diagnosing HD between CE and RSB among the groups(P>0.05);the sensitivities of ARM in the diagnosis of HD in the 1-<3 years old group and 3-<9 years old group were higher than that in the 9 years old and above group(both P<0.05).Conclusion The sensitivity of RSB in 0-9 years old children with HD is higher,and the sensitivities of CE,ARM,and RSB in children over 9 years old are similar.