In a cohort of 80 adults with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) followed annually by the Radboud Centre in the Netherlands :
- six patients presented acute gastrointestinal disorders leading to hospitalisation, sometimes in intensive care,
- they were on average 29 years old at the time of their first admission for this reason,
- in order of frequency of causes of hospitalisation, the authors identified acute gastrointestinal pseudo-obstruction (recurrent in three cases), subileus and gastric dilatation,
- the concomitance of these gastrointestinal disorders and a difficult respiratory situation (pneumonia, need to change ventilation mode) was noted.
The authors stress the importance of establishing prevention and treatment recommendations for these relatively frequent and often serious disorders in adults with DMD.
