Treatment update of inflammatory bowel disease in children

Abstract

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is an important disease of childhood because of its chronic character, high morbidity and its malignant potential. The objective of this study is to present an update of the treatment options in inflammatory bowel disease, especially ulcerative colitis, in children. This is a challenging issue, especially with the lack of controlled randomized trials in paedriatric patients. The accepted management of UC is with corticosteroids and aminosalicylates; while immunosupression with azathioprine or 6-mercaptopurine are useful for mantenance treatment. In severe or refractory UC, cyclosporine is a useful alternative, but only postpones colectomy. Despite favourable preliminary studies with infliximab, there still lacks evidence for its use in children with UC. We present the available evidence of the different medical treatments of UC and some reviews of the evidence in Crohn´s disease.