Epidemiologic trend of pediatric inflammatory bowel disease in Latin America: The Latin American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (LASPGHAN) Working Group

The primary aim was to explore the epidemiologic trend of pediatric inflammatory bowel disease in Latin America, and the secondary aims were to obtain an overview of the diagnostic/therapeutic focus of the members of the LASPGHAN and examine the relation of case frequency to year, during the study period. Latin American pediatric gastroenterologists participated in an online survey, conducted through the SurveyMonkey platform, that investigated the yearly frequency of new inflammatory bowel disease patients within the time frame of 2005–2016, their disease variety, the gastrointestinal segments affected, and the diagnostic and treatment methods utilized. The correlation of new case frequency with each study year was evaluated. A total of 607 patients were studied. The diagnoses were ulcerative colitis in 475 (78.3%) cases, Crohn’s disease in 104 (17.1%), and inflammatory bowel disease D unclassified in 28 (4.6%). The trend in ulcerative colitis was a lineal increase in the frequency of new cases related to each study year, with a significant correlation coefficient. Pancolitis was found in 67.6% of the patients. The diagnostic methods included clinical data, endoscopy, and biopsies in more than 99% of the cases, and imaging studies were indicated selectively. Drug regimens were limited to 5-aminosalicylic acid derivatives, azathioprine, 6-mercaptopurine, infliximab, and adalimumab. Pediatric inflammatory bowel disease in Latin America appears to have increased during the years included in the study period, with a predominance of moderate or severe ulcerative colitis. That lineal trend suggests the predictive likelihood of a gradual increase in the coming years, with possible epidemiologic and clinical implications. El objetivo primario fue explorar la tendencia epidemiológica de la enfermedad intestinal inflamatoria pediátrica en América Latina; los secundarios, obtener una visión general del enfoque diagnóstico/terapéutico de miembros de la SLAGHNP y explorar la relación entre la frecuencia de casos y los años del período evaluado. Se realizó una encuesta en línea a pediatras gastroenterólogos de América Latina con la plataforma SurveyMonkey. Se preguntó la frecuencia anual de pacientes nuevos de 2005 a 2016, su variedad, los segmentos del tubo digestivo afectados, los métodos de diagnóstico y el tratamiento utilizado. Se evaluó la correlación entre la frecuencia anual y los años de estudio. Se estudió a 607 pacientes; el diagnóstico de colitis ulcerativa