Evaluation of Bone Densitometry Parameters in Children with Inflammatory Bowel Disease

The present study was performed to assess densitometry indices in pediatric patients affected by Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) in Mashhad city, east of Iran.

Seventy pediatric IBD patients (8-18 age range) in Akbar Hospital in Mashhad were evaluated in terms of clinical parameters (age, sex, weight, height, IBD type, IBD activity, duration of disease, affected organ, management methods, treatment duration, hospitalization time, nutritional status and puberty), laboratory parameters (serum levels of vitamin D, albumin (Alb), calcium (Ca), phosphorous (P), sodium (Na), magnesium (Mg), Urea, creatinine (Cr) along with important hepatic enzymes aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine transaminase (ALT) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP)). Also, Dual-energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DXA) was applied for whole body and lumbar spine Bone Mineral Density (BMD) measurement.

IBD was mostly manifested as ulcerative colitis (UC) (62.9%) and the disease duration and treatment course were mostly reported to be "over 6 months", with 88.6% and 84.3%, respectively. Most patients had normal (n = 43; 61.4%) and decreased (n = 20; 28.6%) nutritional status, sorted in tanner stage 4 (n = 40; 57.1%), had no hospitalization (81.4%), and received prednisolone (n = 33; 47.1%). Moreover, left colitis (n = 39; 55.7%) and pan colitis (n = 24; 34.3%) were the most affected parts. No statistically significant correlation was reported regarding lumbar BMD values in terms of gender, disease duration, treatment time, and IBD type. Also, there was no statistical association between the treatment type and involved tissues with lumbar and femoral BMD values among 70 examined children in the present study. Still, more studies are recommended to truly evaluate the bone densitometry parameters in children with inflammatory bowel disease.