Respiratory Distress in Children Aged 6 to 59 Months at the Pediatric Department of the Csref of Commune V of Bamako: Clinical and Therapeutic Aspects

Introduction: Respiratory distress in children is a frequent emergency in daily practice. The aim was to describe the clinical and therapeutic characteristics of respiratory distress in young children aged 6 to 59 months admitted to the paediatric emergency department of CSREF CV. Methods: This was a prospective cross-sectional study conducted over a 12-month period from 01 August 2022 to 31 July 2023. Data were collected using an individual survey form. S0PSS 23.0 software was used for data entry and analysis. Results: During the study period, 881 hospital admissions were recorded, including 82 cases of respiratory distress, i.e. a frequency of 9.31%. Females were more prevalent (57.3%). The most common age group was 6-12 months (46.34%). The month with the highest number of admissions was September (15.85%). Dyspnoea was the most common reason for consultation (31.06%) and hospitalisation (68.29%). Intercostal indrawing was the most common sign of respiratory difficulty (49.02%). Pneumonia was the most common pulmonary cause (54.88%). The majority of patients were hospitalised for 1 to 5 days (47.56%). Almost a third of patients received antibiotic treatment (27.80%). Conclusion : Early management of respiratory distress can reduce the length of hospital stay and improve vital prognosis.