Partial enteral nutrition induces clinical and endoscopic remission in active pediatric Crohn's disease: results of a prospective cohort study

The aim of this study was to evaluate rates of clinical remission, endoscopic remission, and mucosal healing after a 6-week treatment period with partial enteral nutrition (PEN) and to compare them to those obtained by standard exclusive enteral nutrition (EEN) treatment in children with active Crohn's disease (CD). Twenty-five patients with active CD (median age 13.6 years, range 3.6-18.0) were recruited to either PEN (n = 12) or EEN (n = 13) treatment groups. The PEN group received 75% of their dietary needs from a polymeric formula plus one meal per day from an anti-inflammatory diet (AID). Patients were assessed at weeks 0, 1, 3, and 6 using clinical and laboratory parameters. Endoscopic assessment was performed at induction and week 6. On intention to treat analysis, clinical remission (Pediatric CD Activity Index < 10) was achieved in 69.2% and 75.0% of EEN and PEN patients, respectively (p = 0.999). The endoscopic remission (Simple Endoscopic Score for CD (SES-CD) ≤ 2) rates were 45.5% in both groups, while mucosal healing rates (SES-CD = 0) were 45.5% with EEN and 27.3% with PEN (p = 0.659).Conclusion: The results of our prospective pilot study suggest that PEN, allowing one meal from AID, could be as effective as EEN in inducing clinical and endoscopic remission in children with active CD. However, larger randomized controlled studies are warranted to confirm our findings.Trial registration: This clinical trial was registered under the number ClinicalTrials.govidentifier: NCT03176875.What is Known:• Exclusive enteral nutrition is a first-line treatment in active pediatric Crohn's disease; however, patients often find it difficult to adhere to.• Exclusive enteral nutrition is more effective than corticosteroids in achieving mucosal healing.What is New:• This is the first prospective study on partial enteral nutrition in active pediatric Crohn's disease, evaluating not only clinical, but also endoscopic remission.• A novel approach of partial enteral nutrition that allows one meal per day from an anti-inflammatory diet was as effective as exclusive enteral nutrition in inducing clinical and endoscopic remission in active Crohn's disease.