BACKGROUND: The differential diagnosis of peripheral nervous system damage depends on a thorough collection of history, comprehensive assessment of clinical manifestations, and dynamic examination of the patient. This article describes a clinical case of acute polyneuropathy in a young child, which began with gastrointestinal symptoms and bilateral facial neuropathy.

CLINICAL CASE DESCRIPTION: The article presents a case of a child with an atypical course of acute polyneuropathy, which began with bilateral facial neuropathy combined with gastrointestinal complaints and pain syndrome. Features of the clinical presentation of the disease required extended laboratory and instrumental testing. Protocols for instrumental verification of diagnosis included nerve conduction studies examining neural conduction and axonal excitability of the affected facial nerve and the healthy side. Additionally, the functional status of the peripheral nerves in the upper and lower limbs was assessed. Polyneuropathic alterations revealed through nerve conduction studies confirmed diagnostic lumbar puncture to determine the presence of neuroinfectious processes. Magnetic resonance imaging of the brain, brachial, and lumbosacral plexuses using intravenous contrast showed the nature and prevalence of a lesion. Based on the overall clinical, laboratory, and instrumental examination data of the patient, “acute inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy” was diagnosed; timely etiopathogenetic treatment was initiated.

CONCLUSION: In children, the course of a neuroinfection may be atypical. Sometimes, when dissociating the clinical manifestations of the disease from the results of a standard laboratory and instrumental test, expert diagnostic techniques should be used for differential diagnosis purposes.