Eosinophilic esophagitis (1294)

Key points below


Allergic esophagitis

What is eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE)? esophagus

EoE is a problem with the tube that connects the throat to the stomach. This tube is called the food tube or esophagus. With EoE the lining or skin of the esophagus becomes swollen and sometimes scarred. Most children do not grow out of EoE which means it is a lifelong condition but there are many effective treatment options. Treatment can include: long-term diet changes, swallowed inhaler medications, acid blocker, or injection medications. Staying on a treatment long term will control the disease and prevent problems. Anyone can get it, but it happens more often in:

What are the symptoms?

How is it diagnosed?

The doctor will use a long camera to take a small piece of skin (biopsy) from the esophagus. This is called an endoscopy. See https://childrenswi.org/scope for more information. 

How is it treated?

Your team of health care providers will include:

Treatment may include taking foods out of the diet or taking medicines. A few things may need to be tried to find the best treatment for your child.  A variety of visits may be needed:

Diet

Diet changes are one kind of treatment. Foods are taken out of the diet. This does not cure the disease, but it keeps it from coming back. At this time, there are no reliable tests to know which foods need to be removed to treat the disease. Doing an endoscopy shows whether taking foods out of the diet treated the esophagus. Foods can then be added to the diet one at a time. This is called food elimination. It can be done several ways:

Empiric elimination diet. Foods that often cause EoE are taken out of the diet. 

There are three common empiric elimination diets.

Six foods elimination. This means taking out: 

Four foods elimination. This means taking out:

Single food elimination. This means taking out dairy.

Complete elimination. This is also called an elemental diet.
This diet is for children who are very allergic to foods or who have feeding tubes. Age-appropriate liquid formula will replace food. These formulas are made up of individual amino acids. The immune system will not react to the formula and these formulas are allergen free.

The formula has all the nutrition needed to help your child grow and develop. Often, a large amount must be given. A feeding tube may be needed to help your child get all their nutrition.

Medicine

Medicines are another way to treat EoE.   They do not cure the disease. Stopping the medicine may cause the symptoms to come back. 

Where can I get more information?

You can find general information about EoE and food allergies at:

Information about your child’s case should come from your child’s health care team.

For other health and wellness information, check out this resource: https://kidshealth.org/ChildrensWi/en/parents

ALERT

Call your child’s doctor, nurse, or clinic if you have any questions or concerns or if your child has special health care needs that were not covered by this information.