Background: Pediatric patients always suffer from chronic pancreatitis (CP), especially those with steatorrhea. This\nstudy aimed to identify the incidence of and risk factors for steatorrhea in pediatric CP. To our best knowledge,\nthere is no pediatric study to document the natural history of steatorrhea in CP.\nMethods: CP patients admitted to our center from January 2000 to December 2013 were enrolled. Patients were\nassigned to the pediatric (< 18 years old) and adult group according to their age at onset of CP. Cumulative rates\nof steatorrhea in both groups were calculated. Risk factors for both groups were identified, respectively.\nResults: The median follow-up duration for the whole cohort was 7.6 years. In a total of 2153 patients, 13.5% of\nthem were pediatrics. The mean age at the onset and the diagnosis of CP in pediatrics were 11.622 and 19.727,\nrespectively. Steatorrhea was detected in 46 patients (46/291, 15.8%) in the pediatric group and in 447 patients\n(447/1862, 24.0%) in the adult group. Age at the onset of CP (hazard ratio [HR], 1.121), diabetes mellitus (DM, HR,\n51.140), and severe acute pancreatitis (SAP, HR, 13.946) was identified risk factor for steatorrhea in the pediatric\ngroup.\nConclusions: Age at the onset of CP, DM and SAP were identified risk factors for the development of steatorrhea\nin pediatric CP patients. The high-risk populations were suggested to be followed up closely. They may benefit\nfrom a full adequate pancreatic exocrine replacement therapy.
Loading....