Comparative study of various therapeutic modalities for Guillain Barré syndrome in Assiut University Children Hospital.

Background: Our study aimed to compare the outcome of different therapeutic modalities for the management of children with Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) and to identify the associating risk factors that may affect the course and prognosis of the disease.

Methods: Our retrospective study compared the outcomes of different therapeutic regimens for patients with GBS who were admitted to Assiut University Children Hospital, Assiut, Egypt, from 2014 to 2016.

Results: The study included 50 patients diagnosed with GBS. Upper respiratory tract infection was the most prevalent preceding factor (66%). Acute inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (AIDP) was the most prevalent type (80%). Regarding therapeutic modalities, 45 patients started with IVIG treatment, and five patients started plasmapheresis. Seventeen patients showed no improvement after two weeks of IVIG and received plasmapheresis as a sequential therapy. We found no patients who received plasmapheresis, followed by IVIG. Patients treated with plasmapheresis alone showed a significantly shorter duration of hospitalization and better outcomes in comparison to those treated with IVIG alone or with both modalities.

Conclusions: AIDP was the most common variety of GBS in our study. GBS patients who were treated with plasmapheresis had a better outcome with a short duration of hospitalization.