Computed Tomographic Anatomy of the Ascending and Descending Colon in Children and Adolescents

Abstract

The aim of the study was to specify the age and gender features of the ascending and descending colon location in children and adolescents based on computed tomography scans.Material and methods. The study included computed tomography scans of the abdomen of 75 children without visible pathology of the abdominal organs. All human subjects were divided into 4 age groups: the period of early childhood, the period of the first childhood, the period of the second childhood, adolescence. They were exposed to 16- slice computed tomography followed by analysis specifying distances between the ascending and descending colons and the median sagittal plane. The data obtained were subjected to variational statistical processing, the mean value (M), standard error (m) and the significance of differences according to Student's t-test were defined.Results. The results obtained demonstrated that the maximum values of the distances between the ascending colon and the median sagittal plane were determined at the LIII–LV levels in children of the 1st group, at the LV level in children of the 2nd group, at the LIV level in children of the 3rd group and at the LIII–LIV levels in children the 4th group. The minimum values of the studied parameters were found at the LI level in boys of the 1st group and girls of the 2nd group. The minimum value of the parameter was defined at the LII level in the rest of the examined children. The maximum distances between the descending colon and the median sagittal plane were defined at the LI–LII levels in children of the 1st and 2nd groups, and at the LII–LIII levels in children of the 3rd and 4th groups. The minimum value of the parameter was at the LV level in the examined children of groups 1 and 2, and at the LI and LV levels in the examined children of groups 3 and 4.Conclusion. A significant increase in the average distance from the median sagittal plane to the ascending and descending colons was detected in each group compared to the previous one. Significant differences in the distance from the median sagittal plane to the ascending and descending colons among girls and boys of the same age have not been revealed in any of the age groups.