Abstract
Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) represent a group of chronic immune-mediated diseases of the digestive tract, which include Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). If it is not possible to include any of the mentioned groups, we speak of so-called unclassified inflammation or IBD un-classified (IBDU), sometimes referred to as indeterminate colitis.
However, even these three units have a number of phenotypically different subtypes. While CD is characterized by transmural segmental inflammation affecting any part of the gastrointestinal tract, UC is characterized by mucosal colonic inflammation, progressing continuously proximal to the rectum and affecting various sizes of the colon.
Because CD is a transmural inflammation, fistulas and abscesses are common complications. In children, determining the type of disease can sometimes be difficult because the individual phenotypes, as already mentioned, may overlap.
The classification facilitating the more accurate classification of the disease and taking into account some specifics of childhood is referred to as the so-called Paris classification.