Treatments
There is not one single treatment option for managing IBD. Your child’s personalized treatment plan will depend on his or her specific condition and general health. Our team works with your child, family, and pediatrician to tailor a treatment plan that best suits your child’s needs. We discuss all the therapeutic options with you and answer any questions you may have. Our approach is a holistic one: improving your child’s overall health, growth, nutrition, and wellbeing.
As part of our treatment goals, we try to avoid excessive use of corticosteroids. While corticosteroids are popular options for treating adults with IBD, they can lead to potentially serious side effects including:
- Delayed growth
- Osteoporosis
- Contributing to high blood pressure and diabetes
- Fatigue and weakness
- Vision problems
- Sweating
- Absence or irregularity of menstruation
- Effects on mood
Whenever possible, we use advanced therapies that reduce the use the steroids and avoid the need for surgery. Our treatment options include:
- Immunomodulators. These medications affect the immune system to reduce or stop the symptoms of IBD. They can sometimes even put a disease, such as Crohn’s disease, in remission. Patients using immunonodulators can reduce or stop using corticosteroids.
- Biologics. We may recommend these medications for patients with more severe Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. Biologics target specific proteins in the body that play a role in inflammation.
- Enteral nutrition: Use of nutritional therapy for Crohn’s disease may be your child’s primary therapy, or used to supplement other medical therapies.
Children's uses magnetic resonance enterography, a radiation-free imaging scan, to provide more information about Crohn disease and irritable bowel disease.