Children and adolescents with Crohn's disease (CD) present often with a more complicated disease course compared to adult patients. In addition, the potential impact of CD on growth, pubertal and emotional development of patients underlines the need for a specific management strategy of pediatric-onset CD. To develop the first evidenced based and consensus driven guidelines for pediatric-onset CD an expert panel of 33 IBD specialists was formed after an open call within the European Crohn's and Colitis Organisation and the European Society of Pediatric Gastroenterolog, Hepatology and Nutrition. The aim was to base on a thorough review of existing evidence a state of the art guidance on the medical treatment and long term management of children and adolescents with CD, with individualized treatment algorithms based on a benefit-risk analysis according to different clinical scenarios. In children and adolescents who did not have finished their growth, exclusive enteral nutrition (EEN) is the induction therapy of first choice due to its excellent safety profile, preferable over corticosteroids, which are equipotential to induce remission. The majority of patients with pediatric-onset CD require immunomodulator based maintenance therapy. The experts discuss several factors potentially predictive for poor disease outcome (such as severe perianal fistulizing disease, severe stricturing/penetrating disease, severe growth retardation, panenteric disease, persistent severe disease despite adequate induction therapy), which may incite to an anti-TNF-based top down approach. These guidelines are intended to give practical (whenever possible evidence-based) answers to (pediatric) gastroenterologists who take care of children and adolescents with CD; they are not meant to be a rule or legal standard, since many different clinical scenario exist requiring treatment strategies not covered by or different from these guidelines.

Background. Robust evaluation of induction therapies using both clinical and inflammatory outcomes in pediatric Crohn's disease (CD) are sparse. We attempted t

The results of previous studies on the effectiveness of antibiotics in ulcerative colitis (UC) seem more effective when used orally. In this retrospective, multicenter study, we aimed to report our experience of using a combination of 3-4 antibiotics in children with moderate-severe refractory UC and IBD-unclassified including metronidazole, amoxicillin, doxycycline, and if during hospital admission, also vancomycin (MADoV). All children treated during 2013 with the antibiotic cocktail for 2-3weeks in an attempt to alleviate inflammation in refractory colitis were included. Doxycycline was substituted with oral gentamycin or ciprofloxacin in children younger than 8years or when an allergy was known to one of the drugs. Children were assessed using the PUCAI and CRP weekly for 3weeks. All 15 included children had moderate to severe disease with refractory disease course to multiple immunosuppressants (mean age 13.6±5.1years, median disease duration 2 (IQR 0.8-3.2) years, 11 females (73%), and 13 (87%) extensive disease; 14 (93%) were corticosteroid-dependent or resistant, and 12 (80%) refractory to anti-TNF therapy). The cocktail was definitely effective in 7 of the 15 included children (47%) who entered complete clinical remission (PUCAI<10) without additional interventions. Questionable or partial short-term response was noted in another 3 (20%), totaling 67% of patients. The use of oral wide-spectrum antibiotic cocktail in pediatric UC seems promising in half of patients, refractory to other salvage therapy. A pediatric randomized controlled trial to assess this intervention is underway.