Guidelines for treatment of ulcerative colitis in children

This paper introduces the guidelines for treatment of ulcerative colitis in children, created by the working group of the Japanese Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (Chair: Yuichiro Yamashiro) and the Japanese Society for Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) (Chair: Akio Kobayashi). The ideas of the working group, with regard to the fundamental differences in medical treatment between children and adults, included: (1) for children, intensive medical treatment including appropriate systemic management is important during the acute phase of illness. (2) Treatment with steroids, which can cause growth disturbances, should not be continued for long periods of time. (3) Pulsed steroid therapy, selective removal of blood cells, and intravenous infusion of cyclosporin should be included in the therapeutic option for severe and fluminant cases.