Our team will work with your family to make sure your child has the correct diagnosis. We’ll take a complete medical history and do a physical exam. This helps us form the best care plan for your child as each presentation is a bit different and may require a different approach.

Other tests for Crohn's disease may include:

• Blood tests: To check for anemia and iron deficiency from blood loss and signs of inflammation.
• Stool tests: To check for inflammation, blood loss and infection.
• Endoscopy: The doctor uses a small, flexible tube with a light and a camera at the end called an endoscope. Once your child is given anesthesia and comfortably asleep, the scope goes into the mouth to see the inside of the digestive tract from the upper end. They can also take tissue samples, called a pinch biopsy, for testing to determine what type of inflammation is happening.

• MRI Enterography (MRE): Contrast is given to show the small bowel to determine if there is inflammation in areas that cannot be seen by the traditional endoscopic approaches. This is done without radiation, and can also show the structure of the liver as well as whether there is inflammation around the rectum in patients presenting with abscesses in those areas.
• Capsule Endoscopy: A small camera is either swallowed or placed using an endoscope in the first part of the small bowel (duodenum) to take images throughout the small bowel to determine if there is inflammation.
• Colonoscopy: Like and upper endoscopy, a thin, flexible tube with a camera is used to look at the inside of your child’s colon and last part of the small bowel. The doctor can take a pinch biopsy to look for signs of inflammation.

We create a Crohn’s disease care plan for your child based on a number of factors.

These include their:

• Age
• Level and location of inflammation
• Overall nutrition status and health
• Medical history
• Appropriateness and tolerance for certain treatments.

Common treatments for Crohn’s include:

• Medicines: Anti-inflammatory medicine can reduce the level of impact of inflammation on areas of the body which may lead to damage and the development of scar tissue. This will ultimately help with reducing symptoms like cramps and diarrhea. Some medications that may be used include steroids, oral anti-inflammatory medications and injectable or intravenous medications targeted specifically at certain signals the body creates to result in the inflammatory response.
• Additional nutrition: Children with Crohn’s disease may become malnourished. Calorie supplementation may be used as a form of treatment in certain cases, or as a supplement to their nutrition. They may require nutritional supplementation with high calorie liquid formulas or occasionally require nutrients in an IV or feeding tube.
• Surgery: We work closely with our surgical teams to determine the best time for surgery. If and when the level of impact from Crohn's disease results in scar tissue formation. This may help relieve symptoms or resolve complications from disease activity that may have resulted before or after the diagnosis.

Crohn’s Disease Surgery

Surgery for Crohn's disease will occasionally be needed to relieve the development of scar tissue and damage from chronic inflammation of active disease. Surgery does not cure the disease, but has a role in certain situations. Since the inflammation in Crohn's disease comes back without ongoing treatment, a surgical approach will result in a return of the complications in the area the surgeon removed unless active treatment is also used. Our team works together to approach each case to optimize timing of surgery and to coordinate things like nutrition and timing of medicine changes if needed. Ultimately, surgery is one of our tools to treat our patients when complications occur from damage from disease or when mediations are not work. 

Occasionally, our surgical teams are involved in the management of complications of Crohn's disease such as intestinal blockage, perforation, abscess formation or the control of bleeding.

Occasionally, if your child may need a part of their intestines removed, or may require their stool to be diverted away from an area of their intestinal tract. This may require a new method of removing the stool from the body. The surgery team can create a new opening called an ostomy which uses an opening called a stoma.

Nationally ranked: U.S. News & World Report consistently ranks the gastrointestinal program at Children’s Wisconsin among the nation’s best. We focus on providing the best possible care in diagnosing and treating GI-related health issues.

Part of ImproveCareNow: Our group works to improve care for kids with IBD. As a member, we partner with other expert IBD centers across the country and around the world. It helps us give the best care possible, using up-to-date methods and care plans. Children’s Wisconsin is the largest ImproveCareNow care center in the state.

IBD program: Children's Wisconsin is nationally known for pediatric IBD care, including Crohn’s disease and Ulcerative Colitis. Our Inflammatory Bowel Disease Program provides family-centered care, management and consultations.

Education, mental health and emotional support: As part of our team based apprach to Crohn's disease care, we include our IBD psychologist to support your family at every stage of care. We help you understand Crohn’s disease and what to expect moving forward. Our care team works with you and your family to manage the physical and emotional impacts of GI disease, along with your child's readiness to transition to an adult IBD provider.

Expert clinical care: Our diverse team is widely known as one of the largest and most well-rounded pediatric GI teams in the country. Our experts diagnose and treat digestive health issues like belly pain, nutrition, weight and liver issues. Our care teams bring together the skills of experts from many areas.

Innovative treatment options: Our team members are national and international GI disease experts. They’re paving the way for new care and cures with clinical trials and innovative research. We take problems from the bedside and clinic into the laboratory and return with better treatments.

Focus on kids: We know that kids need different care than adults. Our team at Children’s Wisconsin has expertise in managing diverse GI issues in infants, kids and teens. We take a whole-child approach to care. We’re always thinking about your child’s growth, physical and emotional development and age-related social issues.

Our team gives you and your family the best and safest care possible. We provide a comfortable and welcoming environment during every step of your journey. We’re here for you, from initial diagnosis to long-term management.

Deciding where to seek treatment for your child's GI issues can be difficult and stressful. The range of options, including new and experimental treatments, can be hard to figure out. We want to make it as easy as we can.

In addition to world-class care, we provide many resources for kids and their families. We want your journey to be as smooth as possible, given the difficult circumstances.

Before

For your first visit to the IBD Program, we may ask for:

• Your child’s medical history
• Past test results
• List of medicines
• Reports from previous procedures

If you have any questions before our first meeting, please contact our team.

During

Your care team creates a welcoming, familiar, healing place for your family. We know that each child with a gastrointestinal disease like Crohn’s needs a unique care plan. We will work with you to figure out the best care options for your child.

Our IBD care team includes:

• A pediatric gastroenterologist and expert in IBD. They’ve seen many difficult and unusual cases.
• A pediatric nursing staff with knowledge of Crohn’s disease and care.
• A registered pediatric dietician who manages your child’s diet and nutrition while considering the impact on their Crohn's disease.
• An IBD psychologist who focuses on kids with inflammatory bowel disease and other chronic diseases.
• Pediatric surgeons who are experts in complex IBD surgery, including less invasive methods such as robotic surgery.
• Social workers who can assist with the financial challenges of care.

Depending on your care plan, we may work with other highly skilled experts across Children’s Wisconsin. We take great pride in giving your child the very best care. 

After

Care for Crohn's disease is lifelong. It requires long-term medical care.

The goal is to keep your child in remission which means that the disease is not active and symptoms go away. Remission is aimed to last for months or even years. There is no way to predict when remission may occur or when symptoms will return. However, in Crohn's disease, symptoms often come back and changes may be needed to control disease or symptoms.

Our team is here to monitor your child, help during flare-ups, consideration of offer new medicines and treatments when they become available and provide long-term care for your whole family. You can always contact our team if you have any questions.