Pediatric inflammatory bowel disease

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in childhood and adolescence represents a major challenge to patients, their families, and their physicians. The onset of IBD comes at an especially vulnerable time, occurring at ages characterized by dynamic states of growth and physical change, as well as frequent alterations in psychologic status. A significant proportion of patients develop IBD just prior to or during puberty. This review examines recurring themes in the literature on pediatric IBD with particular attention to recently published studies, Topics include epidemiology, genetic and immunologic influences, clinical features (emphasizing growth failure as a unique clinical presentation in pediatric IBD), diagnosis, complications, new therapeutic modalities, differential diagnosis, and social implications, To better define deviations of growth that occur during IBD, we have also evaluated recent work highlighting long-term growth patterns in children with no known organic basis for short stature.