Extraintestinal Manifestations in Children Diagnosed with Inflammatory Bowel Disease

We aimed to evaluate the frequency of extraintestinal manifestations (EIM) in children with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and the correlation of EIM with disease activity index, disease type and disease age.

Records of patients who were under the 18 years of age and followed up with the diagnosis of IBD were included in the study. The demographic characteristics of the patients, the age of the patients, the sex of the patients, the type of disease and the age of the disease were recorded. When patients were enrolled in the study disease activity indexes were calculated by examining the physical examination and laboratory values of the patients in their last visits, by using the Pediatric Ulcerative Colitis Activity Index (PUCAI) in Ulcerative Colitis (UC) and the Pediatric Crohn's Disease Activity Index (PCDAI) in Crohn's Disease (CD).

It was conducted with a total of 44 patients, 40.9% (n=18) females and 59.1% (n=26) males diagnosed with IBD. The ages of the patients participating in the study ranged from 8 to 19 and the mean was found to be 14.64±3.19 years. According to the type of disease; 27.3% of the patients were CD and 72.7% were UC. When the disease activity is examined; 37.2% were in remission, 37.2% were mild, 16.3% moderate and 9.3% severe. The incidence of EIM in females is 77.8% and 65.4% in males. The incidence of EIM is 75% in CD and 68.8% in UC. Hepatobiliary involvement was detected in 41.5% (n=17) of the patients, joint involvement in 29.5% (n=13), osteopenia in bone in 16.3% (n=7), osteoporosis in 7% (n=3), ocular involvement (uveitis) in 2.3% (n=1) and skin involvement (erythema nodosum) in 2.3% (n=1).

EIM are common in childhood IBD patients. It should be kept in mind that EIM are as common in UC as CD.