The purpose of this multicenter study was to assess the quality of life (QOL) in children with Hirschsprung’s illness (HD). This research comprised HD children aged 6 to 18 years who were followed up on in two French paediatric surgical facilities. QOL was measured using age-appropriate HAQL questionnaires completed by patients and their parents and associated with baseline illness features, nutritional status, and Krickenbeck functional score. There were 63 patients in all. Only 50% of children aged 6 to 11 years old and 68 percent of teens were found to have adequate voluntary bowel motions. Soiling was a concern for 70% of the youngsters and 55% of the teens. The total HAQLproxy6–11 score was 528/700, with greatest scores for “faecal continence,” “social functioning,” and “urinary continence,” and poorest scores for “general well-being” and “diurnal faecal continence.” The total HAQLproxy12–16 score was 607/700, with “urinary continence” and “social functioning” scoring the highest. Soiling was the sole factor linked with low QOL in a multivariate study.
Soiling is still common in children who have had HD surgery, and it has a detrimental impact on their quality of life. In the course of these children’s care, medical teams should prioritise the assessment and treatment of soiling.
