Proceedings of the 2018 Advances In Motility and In NeuroGastroenterology: AIMING for the Future Single Topic Symposium.

OBJECTIVES: Motility and functional disorders are common in children and often debilitating, yet these disorders remain challenging to treat effectively. At the 2018 Annual North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition meeting, the Neurogastroenterology and Motility Committee held a full day symposium entitled, 2018 Advances In Motility and In NeuroGastroenterology - AIMING for the future. The symposium aimed to explore clinical paradigms in pediatric gastrointestinal motility disorders and provided a foundation for advancing new scientific and therapeutic research strategies. METHODS: The symposium brought together leading experts throughout North America to review the state of the art in the diagnosis and management of motility and functional disorders in children. Presentations were divided into esophageal, antral duodenal, and colorectal modules. Each module included oral presentations by experts in the respective fields, leading to thought-provoking discussions. There were 2 breakout sessions with small group discussions on select topics, focusing on defining scientific insights into the diagnosis and management of pediatric functional gastrointestinal and motility disorders in a systematic, segment-based approach. CONCLUSIONS: The field of neurogastroenterology has made remarkable progress in the last decade. The current report summarizes the major learning points from the symposium highlighting the diagnosis and promising therapies on the horizon for pediatric neurogastrointestinal and motility disorders.

Empirically Derived Patterns of Pain, Stooling, and Incontinence and Their Relations to Health-Related Quality of Life Among Youth With Chronic Constipation.

Objective: Chronic constipation is associated with pain, stress, and fecal incontinence, which negatively impact health-related quality of life (HRQoL); however, it is unclear if patterns of pain, stool frequency, and incontinence are differentially associated with HRQoL in youth with chronic constipation. Methods: 410 caregivers completed a demographics and symptoms form, the Parental Opinions of Pediatric Constipation, Pediatric Symptom Checklist, and the Functional Disability Inventory. Results: Stooling patterns were derived using Latent Variable Mixture Modeling. A three-class model emerged: withholding/avoiding ( WA ), pain , and fecal incontinence ( FI ). The pain class reported the greatest amount of disease burden/distress, greatest impairments in illness-related activity limitations, more psychosocial problems, and, along with the FI class, elevated levels of family conflict. The FI class reported the greatest amount of parental worry of social impact. Conclusions: Youth with chronic constipation who experience pain or fecal incontinence may be at a greater risk for specific HRQoL problems such as illness-related activity limitations, psychosocial issues, disease burden and worry, and family conflict.

A multicenter study on childhood constipation and fecal incontinence: effects on quality of life.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the effects of childhood functional constipation compared with functional constipation plus fecal incontinence on quality of life, evaluating effects on physical, psychosocial, and family functioning. STUDY DESIGN: This prospective, multicenter study collected data from 5 regional children's hospitals. Children meeting Rome III criteria for functional constipation were included. Parents completed the following 5 instruments: Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL), PedsQL-Family Impact Module, Functional Disability Inventory-Parent Version, Pediatric Inventory for Parents (PIP), and Pediatric Symptom Checklist-Parent Report. RESULTS: Families of 410 children aged 2-18 years (mean [SD], 7.8 [3.5] years; 52% male) were included. Children with functional constipation+fecal incontinence had worse quality of life than children with functional constipation alone (PedsQL Total Score, P ≤ .03). Older children with functional constipation + fecal incontinence had lower quality of life than their younger counterparts (PedsQL Total Score, P ≤ .047). Children with functional constipation+fecal incontinence had worse family functioning (PedsQL-Family Impact Module Total Score, P ≤ .012), greater parental stress (PIP-F Total Score, P ≤ .016; PIP-D Total Score, P ≤ .013), and poorer psychosocial functioning (Pediatric Symptom Checklist Total Score, P ≤ .003). There were no statistically significant between-group differences in physical functioning based on the functional Disability Inventory. CONCLUSION: Fecal incontinence significantly decreases quality of life compared with functional constipation alone in children. Older children with functional constipation+fecal incontinence may be at particular risk. Strategies for early identification and treatment of constipation along with diagnosis and treatment of related adjustment difficulties may mitigate the negative impact of this highly prevalent condition.

Measuring Health-Related Quality of Life With the Parental Opinions of Pediatric Constipation Questionnaire.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to develop a caregiver-completed constipation condition-specific health-related quality of life (HRQL) instrument. METHODS: 410 caregivers of children aged 2-18 years completed the Parental Opinions of Pediatric Constipation (POOPC), the PedsQL Generic Core Scales, PedQL Family Impact Module, Pediatric Symptom Checklist, the Functional Disability Inventory, the Pediatric Inventory for Parents, and a demographic questionnaire. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to assess the psychometric properties of the POOPC. RESULTS: Analyses yielded four factors called Parental Burden/Distress, Family Conflict, Difficulties with the Medical Team, and Worry about Social Impact that reflect problems in HRQL secondary to constipation and soiling, which were generally more strongly correlated with similar measures relative to a general measure of youth's psychosocial functioning. CONCLUSION: The POOPC is a psychometrically sound measure, which may be useful to clinicians and researchers identifying domains of treatment needs for children and their families.

Assessment of laryngopharyngeal sensation in children with dysphagia.

OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: To assess laryngopharyngeal sensation, prevalence of laryngopharyngeal sensory deficit and abnormal swallowing function parameters in children with dysphagia. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective chart review. METHODS: The medical records of children who underwent flexible endoscopic evaluation of swallowing with sensory testing (FEESST) were reviewed. Laryngopharyngeal sensory threshold (LPST) was assessed based on the threshold intensity of air pulse stimulation eliciting laryngeal adductor reflex. Swallowing function parameters including pharyngeal residue, hypopharyngeal pooling of secretions, premature spillage, laryngeal penetration, and aspiration were evaluated. Prevalence of abnormal swallowing function parameters in children with normal and impaired LPST was compared. RESULTS: Forty children with dysphagia (28 male, 12 female; age range, 3 months to 17 years) underwent FEESST. LPST was normal in six patients, moderately impaired in 20 patients, and severely impaired in 10 patients. LPST could not be measured in four patients. Children showed one or more abnormal swallowing function parameters. The prevalence of abnormal swallowing parameters in patients with normal LPST was lower than that of patients with moderately or severely impaired LPST (P < .05). The prevalence of pharyngeal residue, hypopharyngeal pooling of secretions, and spillage in patients with severely impaired LPST was higher than that of patients with moderately impaired LPST (P < .05). CONCLUSIONS: The majority of children with dysphagia have impaired LPST. The prevalence of abnormal swallowing function parameters in children with normal LPST is lower than that in children with moderately or severely impaired LPST. Prevalence of aspiration tends to increase when the abnormal swallowing function parameters are associated with severely impaired LPST.