IBD in Children and the Difference Between IBD and IBS

As a volunteer in the Pediatric Unit at the Tucson Medical Center over the past year something I find interesting is the communication between doctors and their child patients. It made me think about my topic this week and how I would go about explaining to a child who has IBD exactly what was going on inside of their bodies. The most common age range for this disease is 15 to 30, however, there are reported cases of even younger children who are affected. So how do you bring up a “sensitive” issue like this to a child? I have seen some pretty interesting techniques from the use of puppets to doctors addressing a child as if they were another doctor. You would be surprised what some kids can remember! So I found a couple of internet sites dedicated to the discussion of IBD in a way children would understand. The links are below:

http://kidshealth.org/parent/medical/digestive/ibd.html#

http://kidshealth.org/kid/health_problems/stomach/IBD.html

Here is also a site where kids explain their disease in their own words:

http://growingupibd.org/

The last link is important in that it shows the diversity of the symptoms present in a population of children. Each kid’s story is different and so are their needs as a patient. That is probably the biggest thing I have learned as a volunteer. What might work on one child may totally backfire with another. I have seen the puppet trick give a child a better understanding of their illness in one case while bringing a different child completely to tears. This is an important aspect of medicine to keep in mind for anyone in the field. The needs of patients both young and old should be examined on an individual bases. There is no one correct way to address a child about their illness.

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I also thought it would be good to address the difference between IBD and IBS for those of us who needed clarification. Both IBD and IBS have similar symptoms that may cause confusion to a patient. Symptoms of both include: alteration of bowel habits, pain, discomfort, bloating and increased urgency to use the restroom. The difference between the two illnesses is that IBS does not involve inflammation of the GI tract where IBD is identified by the inflammation of the mucosal tissue in the intestines. IBS is also known as a spastic colon or bowel and is an example of a functional disorder. A functional disorder is defined as “a disorder of physiological function having no known organic basis.” (http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/functional+disorder). In other words there is an abnormality in the function of the GI tract but there are no physical signs of a problem. All in all, IBD is a more serious illness than IBS, The physical toll that the chronic inflammation can take on the GI tract can lead to ulcers as well as anemia from stool blood loss.