Editorial
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2015. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Jun 14, 2015; 21(22): 6809-6816
Published online Jun 14, 2015. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v21.i22.6809
Exclusive enteral nutrition in children with Crohn’s disease
Andrew S Day, Robert N Lopez
Andrew S Day, Robert N Lopez, Department of Paediatrics, University of Otago, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand
Andrew S Day, Robert N Lopez, Paediatrics Department, Christchurch Hospital, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand
Author contributions: Day AS and Lopez RN contributed equally to this paper.
Conflict-of-interest: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Andrew S Day, Professor, Department of Paediatrics, University of Otago, P.O. Box 4345, Christchurch, 8140, New Zealand. andrew.day@otago.ac.nz
Telephone: +64-3-3640747 Fax: +64-3-3640919
Received: January 19, 2015
Peer-review started: January 20, 2015
First decision: March 10, 2015
Revised: March 26, 2015
Accepted: April 16, 2015
Article in press: April 17, 2015
Published online: June 14, 2015
Processing time: 150 Days and 6.2 Hours
Abstract

Exclusive enteral nutrition involves the use of a complete liquid diet, with the exclusion of normal dietary components for a defined period of time, as a therapeutic measure to induce remission in active Crohn’s disease (CD). This very efficacious approach leads to high rates of remission, especially in children and adolescents newly diagnosed with CD. This intervention also results in mucosal healing, nutritional improvements and enhanced bone health. Whilst several recent studies have provided further elaboration of the roles of exclusive enteral nutrition in the management of CD, other reports have provided new understanding of the mechanisms by which this intervention acts.

Keywords: Children; Crohn’s disease; Exclusive enteral nutrition; Nutrition; Outcomes; Mechanisms

Core tip: Exclusive enteral nutrition is well-established as a key therapy in children with active Crohn’s disease. Recent studies increasingly support this role, whilst other data has illustrated key mechanisms of action.