Bone status assessed by quantitative ultrasound in children with inflammatory bowel disease: a comparison with DXA.

BACKGROUND: To determine the bone status in children with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) using quantitative ultrasound (QUS) measurement at hand phalanges and compare the obtained results with dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA).

METHODS: Fifty-one children with IBD underwent DXA and QUS measurements at hand phalanges in the year 2013. The control group for the QUS consisted of 460 children. Reference data for DXA comes from Hologic Explorer.

RESULTS: QUS measurements did not differ significantly between IBD patients and healthy controls. There was no difference between UC and CD subjects. DXA measurements in patients with IBD were lower than in the healthy population. Tanner stage and nutritional status correlated with bone status contrary to steroids therapy.

CONCLUSION: Low bone mineral density often complicates IBD in children. QUS is not an appropriate method for the assessment of bone status in children. Nutritional status seems to have a greater impact on bone status than corticosteroids therapy.