Growth after intestinal resection for Crohn's disease in children, adolescents, and young adults

• Published in: Inflammatory bowel diseases Vol. 6; no. 4; pp. 265 - 269
• Main Authors: Sentongo, Timothy A., Stettler, Nicolas, Christian, Aimee, Han, Peter D., Stallings, Virginia A., Baldassano, Robert N.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Philadelphia Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc 01.11.2000
• Subjects: Adolescent; Children; Crohn's disease; Growth; Height; Surgery; Weight
• ISSN: 1078-0998; 1536-4844
• DOI: 10.1002/ibd.3780060402

Objective: Growth before and after intestinal resection for Crohn's disease (CD) was examined in a group of children, adolescents, and young adults. Methods: Retrospective chart review of patients who had intestinal resections as clinical management of complications of CD between 1985 and 1996. Pre‐ and postoperative measurements of weight and height were reviewed. Z‐scores were computed for weight‐forage (WAZ), height‐for‐age (HAZ), and weight‐for‐height (WHZ). Two tailed t tests were used to compare postoperative growth patterns. Significance was defined as p < 0.05. Results: Twenty‐five subjects (8 females, mean age 16.2 ± 2.8 years with one operation, and 3 males, mean age 15.7 years with multiple operations) were identified. There were significant improvements in the postoperative growth patterns of subjects who had one operation: HAZ (‐1.28 ± 1.45 versus −0.98 ± 1.37, p = 0.041), WAZ (‐1.35 ± 1.02 versus −0.74 ± 0.93, p = 0.0006) and WHZ (‐0.64 ± 0.95 versus −0.23 ± 0.81, p = 0.036). Furthermore, the magnitude of postoperative weight gain directly correlated with the age at CD diagnosis, R2 = 0.16, p = 0.046. Trends towards improved postoperative WAZ (‐0.83 versus −0.49) and HAZ (‐0.47 versus −0.27) were also observed in the three subjects who had multiple operations. Conclusion: The pattern of weight and height growth was improved after intestinal resection for CD. Nonetheless, close monitoring of postoperative growth is necessary especially in children diagnosed with CD at a young age.