To update the epidemiologic information of hepatobiliary diseases in pediatric inpatients using cross-sectional survey data throughout the Republic of Korea.

Nationwide cross-sectional survey was obtained from the 85 residency training hospitals in Korea to gather the final diagnosis on discharge. The surveyed periods were from 2004 to 2006. All the reports regarding the diagnosis were based on ICD-10 system. In this study, we focused on hepatobiliary diseases.

A total of 826,896 cases with discharge data were collected, of which 4,151 (5.0%) hepatobiliary cases were identified; 2,385 cases (57.4%) of hepatobiliary disease were hepatitis, which was the most common hepatobiliary disease. Other diseases included congenital hepatobiliary diseases (524 cases [12.6%]) and biliary diseases (315 cases [7.6%]). The prevalence of hepatobiliary disease according to age differed. Biliary atresia was the most common hepatobiliary disease in the neonatal period, whereas the prevalence of hepatitis increased in adolescents. The total number of hepatobiliary operations was 416 cases. With the comparison of annual data, there was no definite difference in the total number of hepatobiliary cases. The average duration of hospital stay appeared to decrease gradually.

In this study, we have summarized the recent epidemiology of hepatobiliary disorders in Korean children based on discharge data. Hepatobiliary disorders in pediatric inpatient units consisted of diverse disorders with a low prevalence, so multi-center approaches should be considered to enhance the clinical and public health outcomes. To improve this nationwide survey, a new data collecting system should be developed.