Original ArticlesDo Children Just Grow Out of Irritable Bowel Syndrome?
Section snippets
Methods
Patients eligible for the study were all the children aged 5-17 years who were referred to the Department of Translational Medical Sciences, Section of Pediatrics of the “Federico II” University for RAP between March 2012 and January 2014. For all eligible children, a full medical history was collected, and patients underwent clinical evaluation, laboratory tests (full blood cell count, inflammatory markers, antitransglutaminase and antiendomysial antibodies, fecal calprotectin), and a
Results
Of the 330 eligible patients referred to our department for RAP between March 2012 and January 2014, 98 children received an IBS diagnosis. Of these, 83 patients completed the 24 month-follow-up study and were included in the data analysis (Figure 1; available at www.jpeds.com). Patient characteristics both at diagnosis and after 24 months are summarized in the Table.
At diagnosis, C-IBS was the most prevalent subtype, affecting 34 out of 83 children (41%). D-IBS and A-IBS were reported in 26
Discussion
In this longitudinal study, we aimed to investigate the evolution of IBS symptoms in a cohort of pediatric patients followed-up over 24 months. Our main finding was that approximately one-half of the enrolled subjects reported spontaneous resolution of symptoms over time, with no influence of sex, age, impact of symptoms on daily activities, or IBS-subtypes. Interestingly, despite larger interventional studies being needed, our results also seem to suggest that traditionally prescribed
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The authors declare no conflicts of interest.