Ultraschall Med. 2022 Oct;43(5):436-455. doi: 10.1055/a-1891-6421. Epub 2022 Oct 5.

Gianfranco Vallone ¹, Paolo Pizzicato ², Eugenio Rossi ³, Luca Brunese ¹

Author information

¹Radiodiagnostic, University of Molise, Department of Medicine and Health Sciences Vincenzo Tiberio, Campobasso, Italy.

²Radiology, Federico II University Hospital, Napoli, Italy.

³Radiodiagnostic, A.O.R.N. Santobono-Pausilipon, Napoli, Italy.

Abstract

Chronic inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are chronic disorders of the gastrointestinal tract, with an increasing incidence in pediatric populations. Ultrasound of the intestinal wall represents the first-line imaging technique in children since it is a noninvasive method, is free of ionizing radiation, and is inexpensive. Furthermore, the absence of intestinal wall thickening has a good negative predictive value for IBD, which is greater for Crohn's disease than for ulcerative colitis. Ultrasound is used for the diagnosis of disease, for the differential diagnosis in IBD, in the follow-up of known IBD, in the definition of the site and extent of the disease, for the diagnosis of intestinal complications, for the evaluation of disease activity, in the definition of prognostic parameters, and in the post-operative follow-up.