Gastric emptying in children with diffuse nontoxic goiter

Background. It has been proved that pupils with thyroid diseases, in particular diffuse nontoxic goiter (DNG), suffer from digestive disorders almost 2.5 times more often. The purpose was to study the features of gastric emptying in children with diffuse nontoxic goiter. Materials and methods. The main group included children with DNG (n = 89), the comparison group — children without thyroid diseases (n = 84). A multi-faceted questionnaire survey, thyroid ultrasonography and functional ultrasonography of the stomach were conducted. Results. The prevalence of goiter among children of Bukovina was 53.3 %. The frequency of functional gastrointestinal disorders in children of both groups was 27.55 ± 2.17 %: in patients with DNG — 33.9 ± 2.3 %, in children without DNG — 21.4 ± 1.3 %, p < 0.05. Impaired gastric emptying was detected in 12 patients with DNG (11.6 %) and in 6 (8.5 %) children without DNG. Most often, these violations were registered in patients with functional dyspepsia. Conclusions. A significantly higher frequency of functional gastrointestinal disorders in children with diffuse nontoxic goiter, including impaired gastric emptying, was established. Treatment of somatic disease will reduce the frequency of unfavorable course of DNG in children and adolescents