Paediatric Crohn's Disease Management: A Mini Review Exploring Conventional and Innovative Therapies With Promising Potential

Pediatric Crohn's disease (pCD) is a chronic, relapsing inflammatory bowel disease with increasing incidence worldwide, including in Asia where it was once rare. Affected children often experience gastrointestinal symptoms, growth failure, malnutrition, and psychosocial impacts that significantly impair quality of life. This review summarizes current knowledge on the epidemiology and pathogenesis of pCD, highlighting the role of dysbiosis, environmental triggers, and immune dysregulation. Conventional management strategies, including aminosalicylates, corticosteroids, immunomodulators, biologics, surgery, and nutritional interventions such as exclusive enteral nutrition, are discussed, alongside their limitations in efficacy, tolerability, or long-term safety. The paper further explores emerging therapeutic approaches, including helminthic therapy, fecal microbiota transplantation, and synthetic biotics, which aim to modulate the gut microbiome or immune response more precisely. Although early data from clinical trials are promising, these novel modalities require further investigation, particularly in pediatric populations, to establish optimal protocols, safety profiles, and long-term outcomes. The integration of established and innovative strategies, informed by ongoing research, offers the potential for more personalized and effective care in managing pCD.