Diagnostic delay and colectomy risk in pediatric ulcerative colitis.

Abstract

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE:

Diagnostic delay or time to diagnosis, and its relationship with colectomy risk has been studied in adult Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), but rarely in pediatric IBD (PIBD), especially pediatric ulcerative colitis (P-UC), which often has a more severe course than adult UC. This study compared the relationship between diagnostic delay and colectomy in P-UC.

METHODS:

The medical records of P-UC patients, ages <18 years, diagnosed at Texas Children's Hospital from 2012 to 2018 were examined. We identified 106 P-UC patients, where the onset of symptoms of IBD (i.e. fever, diarrhea, blood in stool, weight loss, abdominal pain) could be clearly identified.

RESULTS:

Twenty (20 = 18.9%) patients progressed to colectomy, and 86 did not. There was no significant difference in diagnostic delay between the patients undergoing colectomy with UC (C-UC) and those with no colectomy (NC-UC) (p = 0.2192). The median (C-UC = 7.1 weeks; NC-UC = 11.9 weeks) and mean (C-UC = 16.5 weeks±4.7; NC-UC = 20.1 ± 2.6) diagnostic delay actually tended to be shorter in C-UC compared to NC-UC. Fecal calprotectin levels were significantly higher (p = 0.0228) in C-UC than NC-UC patients at diagnosis.

CONCLUSIONS:

Shorter time to diagnosis may reflect disease severity at the time of disease onset and also a more aggressive subsequent course of P-UC. The significantly higher level of fecal calprotectin in the C-UC patients at diagnosis provided biologic/biochemical support for our conclusion.

LEVELS OF EVIDENCE:

Prognosis study, Level III evidence.

• Authors: Mahesh Krishna, Savini Britto, Justin Qian, Faith Ihekweazu, Jose Ruben Rodriguez, Richard Kellermayer
• Journal: Journal of pediatric surgery (J Pediatr Surg) Vol. 55 Issue 3 Pg. 403-405 (Mar 2020) ISSN: 1531-5037 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 30992148 (Publication Type: Journal Article)
• Copyright: Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Topics

• Child
• Cohort Studies
• Colectomy (statistics & numerical data)
• Colitis, Ulcerative (diagnosis, epidemiology, surgery)
• Delayed Diagnosis (statistics & numerical data)
• Female
• Humans
• Male
• Risk Factors