Diagnosis and Management of Food Allergy Induced Constipation in young
Children -- An EAACI Position Paper
Abstract
The recognition of constipation as a possible non-Immunoglobulin E (IgE)
mediated allergic condition is challenging because functional
constipation (unrelated to food allergies) is a common health problem
with a reported worldwide prevalence rate of up to 32.2% in children.
However, many studies in children report challenge proven cow’s milk
allergy and constipation as a primary symptom, have found that between
28-78% of children improve on a cow’s milk elimination diet. Due to the
paucity of data and a focus on IgE mediated allergy, not all food
allergy guidelines list constipation as a symptom of food allergy. Yet,
it is included in all cow’s milk allergy guidelines available in English
language. The Exploring Non- IgE
Mediated Allergy(ENIGMA) Task Force (TF) of the
European Academy for Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI) considers
in this paper constipation in the context of failure of standard
treatment and discuss the role of food allergens as culprit in
constipation in children. This position paper has used the Delphi
approach in reaching consensus on both diagnosis and management, as
currently published data is insufficient to support a systematic review.