Role of endoscopic ultrasound in pediatric gastrointestinal diseases

Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) is a well-established diagnostic and therapeutic modality for adults. It is extremely helpful for a broad range of diagnostic indications including upper gastrointestinal (GI) malignancies, submucosal lesions, pancreatic lesions (masses, cystic lesions), chronic pancreatitis, etiological workup of recurrent acute pancreatitis, common bile duct evaluation (calculi versus tumor), gallbladder lesions/microliths, and rectal malignancy; well-established therapeutic roles include fine-needle aspiration of lesions/lymph nodes, pancreatic fluid collection drainage, pancreatic duct drainage, biliary drainage, gallbladder drainage, pelvic abscess drainage, celiac plexus block, or neurolysis. Some recent studies have reported the use of EUS in the pediatric population. EUS is safe and easy to perform in the pediatric population also. However, there is paucity of data on use of EUS in pediatric population. In contrast with its regular therapeutic use in adults, EUS is not commonly performed in children for therapeutic reasons and most of the data are available on diagnostic use only. All of studies have shown that EUS is safe and a useful modality with a positive impact on management in majority of study population. EUS is very useful in pediatric population for the evaluation of upper GI tract submucosal lesions or rectal masses, pancreaticobiliary disorders, characterization of esophageal strictures, and for evaluation of enteric duplication cysts. The advent of miniprobe that can be passed through conventional endoscopes has increased the applicability of EUS in infants and children. Although there are limited data regarding use of EUS in pediatric population, it appears to be a very promising diagnostic and therapeutic tool.