ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: Treatment of acute severe colitis (ASC) has been associated with high morbidity and high colectomy rate in children. In the prebiologics era, our centre used short-term high-dose intravenous corticosteroids (IVCS) at 2 to 30 mgâ·âkgâ·âday. We conducted a retrospective review to compare efficacy of different dosing regimes of IVCS. METHODS: Thirty-four children treated with IVCS for ASC were included over 8 years. Patients were studied as 2 groups with similar pretreatment patient characteristics. Group 1 (standard dose) received IVCS at 2 mgâ·âkgâ·âday and group 2 (high dose) received IVCS at 10 to 30 mgâ·âkgâ·âday. Safety, efficacy, and follow-up of the entire cohort for >1 year were studied. The median IVCS dose in the standard- and high-dose cohort was 1.5 mgâ·âkgâ·âday (maximum 60 mgâ·âkgâ·âday) and 24.8 mgâ·âkgâ·âday (maximum 1000 mgâ·âkgâ·âday), respectively. RESULTS: Pediatric Ulcerative Colitis Activity Index scores at day 5 were significantly lower in high-dose (15, interquartile range 8.5-20) than in standard-dose IVCS (30, interquartile range 20-30). IVCS side effects were minor and reversible. Overall, medical salvage therapy was required in 5.8% (2 children) before discharge, and in 17% (6 children) at follow-up after 1 year. The colectomy rate of the entire cohort was remarkably low with 0% during admission and 11% (4 children) after 1 year, with a trend of less colectomies in high-dose (4.8%-1 child) than in standard-dose (23%-3 children). CONCLUSIONS: Our data show that in paediatric ASC, the short-term use of high-dose IVCS is safe and effective. Prospective studies are needed to define the role of IVCS within salvage therapy protocols.
