Frequency of Neurological Complications in Children Presenting with Meningitis to a Tertiary Care Hospital

Abstract

Background and Objective: Meningitis can be defined asinfection of brain covering, protecting the brain and
spinal cord, resulting in inflammation. There is much gap in literature regarding frequency, complications
and predictive factors in children with meningitis. The purpose of this study was to assess frequency of
neurological complications in children presenting with meningitis.
Methods: This prospective longitudinal study was conducted at Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, The Children
Hospital, University of child's Health Sciences from 1st Dec 2021 to 30th November 2022. Patients of both
gender with meningitis were included in the study through non probability consecutive sampling. Sample
size of 92 was calculated using confidence level as 95%, 8% margin of error with expected frequency of
hydrocephalus as 18.8% in children with meningitis. All patients were sent to radiology department and
neurological complications (Subdural effusion, Ventriculomegaly, Subdural empyema and Hydrocephalus)
was recorded as per CT-scan and MRI findings and all this data was documented on pre-designed
questionnaire. Data were entered and examined with SPSS version 23. Cross tabulation was done between
age, gender and duration of meningitis with the complications and chi square test was applied, p ≤0.05 was
considered statistically significant.
Results: Male patients were 52.2% and females were 47.8%. Frequency of Post Meningitis complications
were studied and results showed that seizure was observed in 57.6%, subdural effusion 42.4%, ventriculomegaly
29.3%, subdural empyema 17.4% and hydrocephalus in 10.9%. On cross tabulation, only age was found to
be significantly related with subdural effusion, with a p value 0.021.
Conclusion: Neurological complications in pediatric meningitis are frequent, with seizures being most
common. Age significantly correlates with subdural effusion. Timely and proper management of these
neurological complications can improve the outcomes in these children.