Two Decades of Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease in North-Western Romania: Phenotypic Characteristics and Diagnostic Trends

<b>Background/Objectives</b>: Pediatric inflammatory bowel disease (pIBD), including Crohn's disease (CD), ulcerative colitis (UC), and IBD-unclassified (IBD-U), exhibits unique clinical features compared to adult-onset disease. This study aimed to describe phenotypic characteristics of pIBD in the north-west region of Romania over a 21-year period and to compare our findings with those of other studies worldwide. <b>Methods</b>: We conducted a retrospective study of children under 18 years of age, from the north-west region of Romania, diagnosed with pIBD between 2000 and 2020 at the Emergency Clinical Hospital for Children, Cluj-Napoca. Disease phenotype at diagnosis was established according to the Paris classification. Data were collected from the hospital records and analyzed using descriptive statistics and univariate analysis of categorical variables. A <i>p</i>-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. <b>Results</b>: Ninety-four patients were included (CD: 51.0%; UC: 43.6%; IBD-U: 5.4%), with a median age at diagnosis of 14 years (11-15.7). Very early-onset IBD accounted for 5.3% of cases. The likelihood of being diagnosed with CD after 10 years of age was significantly higher compared to UC (OR = 4.75, 95% CI: 1.10-29.07, <i>p</i> = 0.03). UC most frequently presented as pancolitis (51.2%), while CD most often involved the ileocolonic region (56.3%). Inflammatory behavior was the most common CD phenotype (69%). Upper gastrointestinal involvement was documented in 18.7% of CD cases, with detection rates increasing after 2014. Perianal disease and growth impairment were significantly associated with complicated CD behavior (<i>p</i> = 0.03, and <i>p</i> = 0.007 respectively). Our findings are broadly consistent with other published reports. <b>Conclusions</b>: This study provides the first detailed phenotypic characterization of pIBD in this region. Our findings reflect trends observed in other populations and underscore the importance of standardized diagnostic evaluation.