Perianal Skin Tags Revealing Asymptomatic Crohn's Disease in a 12-Year-Old Child With Growth Impairment: A Case Report

Olga Bellou; Dimosthenis Chrysikos; Ourania Schoinohoriti; Ioannis Alexandrou; Efstratios Christianakis

doi:10.7759/cureus.37513

Perianal Skin Tags Revealing Asymptomatic Crohn's Disease in a 12-Year-Old Child With Growth Impairment: A Case Report

Cureus. 2023 Apr 12;15(4):e37513. doi: 10.7759/cureus.37513. eCollection 2023 Apr.

Authors

Olga Bellou¹, Dimosthenis Chrysikos², Ourania Schoinohoriti³, Ioannis Alexandrou⁴, Efstratios Christianakis⁴

Affiliations

¹ 2nd Department of General Surgery, KAT General Hospital of Athens, Athens, GRC.
² Department of Anatomy, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, GRC.
³ Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, School of Dentistry, University of Athens, Athens, GRC.
⁴ Department of Pediatric Surgery, General Children Hospital of Penteli, Athens, GRC.

Abstract

Pediatric Crohn's disease (CD) is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease considered to impair the growth of children and adolescents. Since CD commonly presents perianal manifestations, general surgeons may play a crucial role in its diagnosis and treatment. Detailed history, along with a thorough clinical examination, is mandatory for the management of CD perianal lesions. However, surgical intervention is only indicated in selected patients since it may lead to poor wound healing and recurrence. The article reports a case of a 12-year-old girl, presenting perianal skin tags and growth impairment as the first signs of asymptomatic CD.

Keywords: asymptomatic; diagnosis; growth impairment; pediatric crohn’s disease; perianal skin tags; treatment.

Publication types

Case Reports