CROHN’S DISEASE: A PEDIATRIC AND PRIMARY HEALTH CARE REALITY

Background&Aim Crohn’s disease (CD) is a form of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), a chronic condition in which one or more parts of intestinal tract become inflamed. Most people diagnosed with CD are 10 to 40 years old, up to 20% of these are younger than age 18. The main objective of this work is to show the importance of the family's Doctors (FD) for early detection of IBD, particularly in children. Method Report case Results&Conclusions 9 year old boy went to “open consultation” with the FD, after two trips to hospital emergency with diarrhea alternating with constipation promptly. He refers that sympthoms started over four months, with weight loss during this period and asthenia. The hospital diagnosis was gastrointestinal infection with Shigella. medicated with metronidazole without very effective result. On our examination the patient was pale, with diffuse abdominal pain, but when performed palpation stressed discomfort in the flank and left iliac fossa. Despite denying hematochezia or rectorragia we requested occult blood in the stool which proved positive. In order to discard malabsorption syndrome we require anti-gliadin and anti-transglutaminase serum antibodies which had negative. Excluded malabsorption syndrome, being known family history of IBD, we requested another hospital consultation with suspected of IBD. After colonoscopy with biopsy was reached definitive diagnosis of Crohn's disease. The FD is a key player in the early detection of diverse pathology, particularly in the pediatric age. The IBD clinical suspicion is one of the most important aspects to achieve their diagnosis, even in children.