[Hemorrhage of upper digestive and respiratory tracts in children. A clinical, biological and therapeutic approach].

Haemorrhages in the upper aero-digestive tract, whether spontaneous or provoked by surgery, lead to the discovery of abnormal coagulation. A retrospective series of 43 children hospitalized for haemorrhage of the upper aero-digestive tract enabled us to evaluate the most frequent causes. Willebrand's disease, haemophilia and Glanzmann's thromboasthenia, primary haemostasis disease, made up 27.9% of the cases; acquired impaired haemostasis by thrombopathies secondary to aspirin intake accounted for 25.6%; finally the haemostasis tests were normal in 46.5% of the children. Based on clinical features and biological data, we proposed an adapted diagnostic approach and discussed therapy in light of the current literature. This study confirmed the importance of an adapted routine battery of laboratory tests and the persistent search for impaired haemostasis in children hospitalized for haemorrhage of the upper aero-digestive tract.