Oral and enteral nutrition therapy in inflammatory bowel diseases among the pediatric population: a literature review

Objectives: To review the literature on oral and enteral nutrition therapy and investigate the evidence of its efficacy as a treatment, as well as in preventing relapses and reducing symptoms of inflammatory bowel diseases in the pediatric population. Data source: We performed a bibliographic search in the PubMed, Web of Science, and Latin American and Caribbean Health Sciences Literature (Literatura Latino-Americana e do Caribe em Ciencias da Saude - Lilacs) databases, using the keywords "inflammatory bowel disease," "diet," and "diet therapy" in English and Portuguese, with filters for pediatric studies published in the previous five years. Data summary: We selected 16 articles for this study, nine on exclusive and/or partial enteral nutrition and seven on modified oral diets, such as the specific carbohydrate diet (SCD) and the Crohn's Disease exclusion diet (CDED). The studies found evaluated the anthropometric profile of patients and the inflammatory profile of diseases in children before and after the introduction of each specific nutrition therapy. All interventions presented positive changes in these parameters; however, the results were inconclusive regarding the efficacy of SCD and CDED in the treatment and prevention of relapses. Conclusions: Exclusive enteral nutrition has proven to be effective in inducing remission of Crohn's Disease, and the use of partial enteral nutrition for maintenance treatment has shown promising results. Other modified oral diets are inconclusive concerning their effectiveness, requiring further randomized controlled clinical trials.