Child and adolescent Crohn’s disease: updates in medical and nutritional strategies

Activity Description / Statement of Need:

In this online, self-learning activity:

Crohn’s disease (CD) is an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that is defined by a transmural process that often occurs in the terminal ileum but may occur in any portion of the GI tract. Although the exact etiology of CD is unknown, a handful of genetic, immunological, and environmental risk factors have been identified, including an impaired immune response to commensal or pathogenic intestinal microbiota that drives mucosal inflammation in patients who are genetically susceptible.

Intestinal and abdominal complications such as strictures, abscesses, and fistulas are common among pediatric patients and increase as the disease progresses. Vitamin and mineral deficiencies have also been attributed to IBD due to mucosal inflammation in the gut, low oral intake, and malnutrition resulting in complications such as poor bone health, delayed puberty, anemia, and stunted growth. The annual direct healthcare costs – accounting for the majority of costs in the U.S. – are about $18,000 to $19,000 per patient. CD shares a number of clinical characteristics with other disease states, and initial misdiagnosis and delayed diagnosis of pCD are not uncommon, which may have a dramatic impact on a patient’s clinical course because pCD is often more severe and associated with a higher incidence of complications than adult CD.

This learning activity has been designed to bring healthcare professionals’ knowledge of the strategies to manage pCD up to date and to improve their competence and performance in treating it.

Target Audience:

The following healthcare professionals: pediatricians, pediatric gastroenterologists, and those who specialize in adolescent medicine; physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and pharmacists; and any other healthcare professionals with an interest in or who clinically encounter patients with pCD.

Cost: Free

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Details

Activity Description / Statement of Need:

In this online, self-learning activity:

Crohn’s disease (CD) is an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that is defined by a transmural process that often occurs in the terminal ileum but may occur in any portion of the GI tract. Although the exact etiology of CD is unknown, a handful of genetic, immunological, and environmental risk factors have been identified, including an impaired immune response to commensal or pathogenic intestinal microbiota that drives mucosal inflammation in patients who are genetically susceptible.

Intestinal and abdominal complications such as strictures, abscesses, and fistulas are common among pediatric patients and increase as the disease progresses. Vitamin and mineral deficiencies have also been attributed to IBD due to mucosal inflammation in the gut, low oral intake, and malnutrition resulting in complications such as poor bone health, delayed puberty, anemia, and stunted growth. The annual direct healthcare costs – accounting for the majority of costs in the U.S. – are about $18,000 to $19,000 per patient. CD shares a number of clinical characteristics with other disease states, and initial misdiagnosis and delayed diagnosis of pCD are not uncommon, which may have a dramatic impact on a patient’s clinical course because pCD is often more severe and associated with a higher incidence of complications than adult CD.

This learning activity has been designed to bring healthcare professionals’ knowledge of the strategies to manage pCD up to date and to improve their competence and performance in treating it.

Target Audience:

The following healthcare professionals: pediatricians, pediatric gastroenterologists, and those who specialize in adolescent medicine; physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and pharmacists; and any other healthcare professionals with an interest in or who clinically encounter patients with pCD.

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