Epidemiological and Clinical Characteristics of Children Suffering from Inflammatory Bowel Diseases Attending Zagazig University Children Hospital

Background: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) includes ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD). It is a chronic inflammatory disease that involves the gastrointestinal tract and results from a combination of genetic susceptibility, environmental exposure, and dysregulated responses to the intestinal microbiota. Objective: To study the natural history, patterns, and clinical characteristics of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) in Sharkia Governorate. Patients and Methods: The study was carried out in the Pediatric Hepatology and Gastroenterology Unit, at Zagazig University Hospital on a comprehensive sample of all children suffering from inflammatory bowel diseases that were included in the study (18 patients). We do retrospectively study all patients in whom the diagnosis of UC or CD was confirmed by clinical, laboratory, endoscopic, and histological examination in Zagazig university children hospital. Results: There is a predominance of UC among IBD cases. positive consanguinity was more evident in children with IBD (44.4%). According to sex the percentage of females (55.6%), male (44.4%). Percentage chance of gastrointestinal symptoms among the studied cases is diarrhea (83.3 %), mucus or blood in the stool (83.3%), Abdominal pain (66.7%), vomiting (44.4%), loss of appetite (38.9%), Nausea (38.9 %), Rectal bleeding (27.8%) and anoperineal lesion (22.2%). The Endoscopic finding of Crohn's disease showed a percentage of L1 (distal 1/3 ileum ± limited cecal disease) in (33.3 %) and L2 (Colonic) in (66.7%). Conclusion: UC was more common than the CD. IBD was more common in females. We believe that the present moment is critical in assessing the pattern of IBD spreading in Egypt, and the current status should be further studied by more exhaustive database and registry documentation of IBD patients and their characteristics.