Evaluation of ocular surface parameters in children with inflammatory bowel disease

Aim: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), in the form of ulcerative colitis (UC) or Crohn's disease (CD), is a chronic condition that primarily leads to bowel inflammation but also affects other organ systems via systemic immune response. Involvement of the ocular system can be observed and dry eye is a common problem in IBD patients. There is currently no research that has studied dry eye among children with IBD. In this study, the effects of the chronic inflammatory process on tear production and ocular surface findings were evaluated in pediatric IBD patients. Material and Methods: Twenty-nine children aged 6-18 years with remission of IBD and 20 healthy children were included in the study. Dry eye disease was studied using the Schirmer test, tear break-up time, corneal staining with the Oxford grading scale, and non-invasive tear break-up time (NTBUT) with videokeratoscopy. Results: There was a statistically significant difference between UC and CD patients and between CD patients and control subjects in terms of NTBUT (p=0.009 and p=0.033, respectively). A weak positive correlation was found between age and test duration in the patient group (p=0.03, r=0.39). Discussion: Evaluation of NTBUT with videokeratoscopy can facilitate the early diagnosis of dry eye in pediatric IBD patients. Destructive complications of dry eye and ocular surface inflammation can be prevented with regular follow-up.