The Role of Ultrasound in Chronic Intestinal Diseases in Pediatric Patients

Abstract

Chronic inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are chronic disorders of the gastrointestinal tract, with an increasing incidence in pediatric populations. Ultrasound of the intestinal wall represents the first-line imaging technique in children since it is a noninvasive method, is free of ionizing radiation, and is inexpensive. Furthermore, the absence of intestinal wall thickening has a good negative predictive value for IBD, which is greater for Crohn’s disease than for ulcerative colitis. Ultrasound is used for the diagnosis of disease, for the differential diagnosis in IBD, in the follow-up of known IBD, in the definition of the site and extent of the disease, for the diagnosis of intestinal complications, for the evaluation of disease activity, in the definition of prognostic parameters, and in the post-operative follow-up.

Zusammenfassung

Chronisch entzündliche Darmerkrankungen (CED) sind chronische Erkrankungen des Magen-Darm-Trakts, mit zunehmender Inzidenz bei Kindern und Jugendlichen. Die Ultraschalluntersuchung der Darmwand ist bei Kindern die Erstlinienmethode, da sie nichtinvasiv, strahlenfrei und kostengünstig ist. Außerdem hat das Fehlen einer Darmwandverdickung bei CED einen guten negativen Vorhersagewert, der bei Morbus Crohn höher als bei Colitis ulcerosa ist. Ultraschall wird eingesetzt zur Erstdiagnose, zur Differenzialdiagnose bei CED, zur Verlaufskontrolle bei bekannter CED, zur Bestimmung von Lokalisation und Ausmaß der Erkrankung, zur Diagnose von Darmkomplikationen, zur Bewertung der Krankheitsaktivität, zur Bestimmung prognostischer Parameter und zur postoperativen Nachsorge.

Publication History

Article published online:
05 October 2022

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