Researchers dispute other study findings that show nearly two times greater incidence of surgery
A new multi-center study of 854 children with Crohn's disease shows a 5-year cumulative risk of bowel surgery is significantly lower than reported in recent studies. The findings of the study, led by Hasbro Children's Hospital, also indicate that children diagnosed between ages 13 and 16 had an increased risk of bowel surgery, and that a common treatment that begins at diagnosis, immunomodulator therapy, did not alter the risk of surgery. The study is published in the September 2010 edition of Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology.
Crohn's disease (CD) is a condition that involves chronic inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract. While the exact cause is unknown, the condition is often linked to an immune response problem. Treatments include medications that are directed at controlling the inflammation by targeting the immune system. A common treatment is immunomodulator therapy, an agent that balances and improves the immune response of the body in fighting disease-causing agents, Immunomodulators can help reduce the need for corticosteroids while helping to heal fistulas (an abnormal connection between two organs).
Senior author Neal LeLeiko, MD, director of pediatric gastroenterology and nutrition at Hasbro Children's Hospital, led a multi-center observational study of patients under 16 years of age with newly diagnosed inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). All of the patients were enrolled in the Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease Research Group (PIBDRG) Registry from 26 sites across the country. The goal of the study was to examine the incidence of CD-related surgery in pediatric patients and to examine the effect of starting immunomodulator therapy within 30 days of diagnosis.