Dramatic Increase of Child IBD Hospitalizations Seen Throughout Last Decade in U.S.

Hospitals have seen an increase in hospitalizations in children with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) who are living in the United States during the last ten years.

According to a recent study, from 2000 to 2009, there's been a 65 percent increase in IBD hospital charges, with an increase of 11,928 discharges in 2000 to 19,568 discharges in 2009, according to a press release.

The Mayo Clinic notes that IBD involves chronic inflammation of all or part of the digestive tract. This primarily includes ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, which can lead to painful and possibly debilitating or life-threatening complications.

This study examined more than 11 million hospitalizations records of patients 20 years old and younger who were receiving care at a federal children's inpatient database. Over the period of the study, they identified more than 61,000 pediatric discharges with an IBD diagnosis.

Lead study author Thomas J. Sferra, MD, Division Chief of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition at UH Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital and Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Case Western Reserve School of Medicine, said he believes this shocking and increasing trend was present in just about every age category across all geographic regions in the United States.

"The reason for this large increase in hospitalizations of children with IBD is not clear," said Dr. Sferra, via a press release. "We also found an increase in IBD-related complications and co-existing conditions which suggest an increase in the severity of this disease has contributed to a greater need for hospitalization. However, we will need to perform more research to determine whether patients were admitted to the hospital due to IBD or for an unrelated medical condition. Also, while we're seeing more kids being discharged with IBD, we cannot with certainty say that the incidence and prevalence of childhood IBD has increased in U.S."

Researchers believe this trend reflects what appears to be a phenomenon that has been reported for specific regions within the United States and other countries, too, including Canada, Scotland, and Finland.

As IBD can be a particularly critical and even a life-threatening disease that increases the risk of colon cancer, it's important that children showing symptoms of the disease, ranging from constipation to blood in their stool or diarrhea, as well as weakness, nausea, and fatigue, seek medical assistance promptly. 

The findings for the study can be found in the Journal of Investigative Medicine.