OVERVIEW

CME: Child and adolescent Crohn’s disease: Updates in medical and nutritional strategies is organized by ScientiaCME.

Release Date: September 11, 2021
Expiration Date: September 11, 2023

Activity Description / Statement of Need:
In this online, self-learning activity:
Crohn’s disease (CD) is an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that is defined by a transmural process that often occurs in the terminal ileum but may occur in any portion of the GI tract. Although the exact etiology of CD is unknown, a handful of genetic, immunological, and environmental risk factors have been identified, including an impaired immune response to commensal or pathogenic intestinal microbiota that drives mucosal inflammation in patients who are genetically susceptible.

Intestinal and abdominal complications such as strictures, abscesses, and fistulas are common among pediatric patients and increase as the disease progresses. Vitamin and mineral deficiencies have also been attributed to IBD due to mucosal inflammation in the gut, low oral intake, and malnutrition resulting in complications such as poor bone health, delayed puberty, anemia, and stunted growth. The annual direct healthcare costs – accounting for the majority of costs in the U.S. – are about $18,000 to $19,000 per patient. CD shares a number of clinical characteristics with other disease states, and initial misdiagnosis and delayed diagnosis of pCD are not uncommon, which may have a dramatic impact on a patient’s clinical course because pCD is often more severe and associated with a higher incidence of complications than an adult CD.

This learning activity has been designed to bring healthcare professionals’ knowledge of the strategies to manage pCD up to date and to improve their competence and performance in treating it.

Learning Objectives:
By the end of the session the participant will be able to:
• Recall best practices in the diagnosis of pCD and the effects of misdiagnosis and delayed diagnosis.
• Describe the role of nutrition in the management of pCD, and design a treatment plan that includes them.
• Identify best practices in the pharmacotherapeutic of pCD, and formulate a treatment plan incorporating them.