Pediatric patients who have been diagnosed with Crohns disease (CD) may be less likely to need surgery, according to findings published in the journal Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology.
CD is a chronic inflammatory disease that causes damage to the gastrointestinal system, and is commonly treated with medications. However, as individuals are diagnosed with the illness at an older age, they are more likely to need surgery in order to correct related health problems.
In an effort to determine when the likelihood of surgery could increase, a team of researchers monitored patients aged 16 years and under who had been recently diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). During the trial, the team observed the use of CD-related surgery, and its effectiveness when conducted on patients within 30 days of their diagnoses.
The investigators found that while gender, race and family history didnt affect surgical risk, IBD patients aged 13 to 16 years were more likely to need surgery. Also, the results of the study showed that the severity of the disease was determined by the patients age, resulting in an increased need for surgery.
Of the 169,000 Americans who were hospitalized with inflammatory bowel disease in 2002, approximately 62 percent of these patients were diagnosed with Crohns disease, according to the National Digestive Disease Information Clearinghouse (NDDIC).