Gastrointestinal Dysfunction and Nutritional Intervention

Dear Colleagues,

Functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs) are very common at pediatric age and are associated with a high rate of morbidity and the need for pediatric gastroenterological consultation. FGIDs, although not constituting an organic pathology, strongly compromise the quality of life of children and incur high costs for the national healthcare system.

The etiopathogenesis of FGIDs has not yet been clarified, and there is no diagnostic test that leads to a definitive diagnosis; however, we can define them as a variable combination of gastrointestinal symptoms, chronic or recurrent, not related to organic pathology. The worldwide prevalence of abdominal pain related to FGIDs is approximately 15% of school-age children, and the most frequent disorder is irritable bowel syndrome (IBS); regurgitation and constipation are the most frequent symptoms in infants and in the first years of life, respectively. Over the years, the need to standardize the diagnostic criteria of FGIDs has emerged through the definition of the Rome IV criteria.

Nutritional interventions in these patients are as fundamental as cognitive–behavioral therapies aimed at reassurance and an understanding of visceral pain and symptom management. The use of probiotics and diets—for example, the temporary elimination of cow milk proteins in infant colic or the low-short-chain-carbohydrate (FODMAP) diet in SCI—are supportive therapies with variable benefits, depending on the situation. Their effectiveness lies in limiting the damage related to the inevitable weight loss due to the persistence of disabling symptoms and, therefore, limiting the development of clinical and laboratory conditions of malnutrition that are not tolerable during these periods of growth in the child.

This Special Issue aims to collect the latest research on this topic. Therefore, original studies, narrative and systematic reviews, and meta-analyses that focus on the role of nutritional intervention in functional gastrointestinal disorders are most welcome.

Prof. Dr. Maria Immacolata Spagnuolo
Guest Editor

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• gastrointestinal dysfunction
• malnutrition
• weight loss
• nutrition
• supportive therapy
• abdominal pain
• children
• growth