Evaluating Clinical Course of BCG Lymphadenitis and Factors Affect on it During a 5-year Period in Kerman, Iran

INTRODUCTION: One of the preventive methods of pulmonary tuberculosis is bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccination and one of the common complications of vaccine is lymphadenitis. We aimed to evaluate clinical course of BCG lymphadenitis in children of Kerman Province, Iran. METHOD: 314 children with BCG lymphadenitis were enrolled in study. Patients were followed up monthly regarding clinical improvement and complications. RESULTS: BCG lymphadenitis was improved in many patients during follow up; during 6 months 23.7% of patients had spontaneous regression. Only the primary size of lymphadenitis had significant effect on clinical course of lymphadenitis and developing complication (p = 0.0540). CONCLUSION: Many patients improved without any intervention. The primary size of lymphadenitis may affect clinical course of lymphadenitis and dispose person to abscess and fistula. To confirm this result and evaluate efficiency of preventive surgery instead of observation further study is recommended.