The Changes in Trends of Lower Gastrointestinal Endoscopy Conducted in Children and Adolescents after the COVID-19 Outbreak in Korea.

Background and Objectives: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected medical practice in diverse ways. We aimed to investigate the change in trends of lower gastrointestinal (LGI) endoscopy conducted in children and adolescents after the COVID-19 outbreak in Korea. Material and Methods: This was a multicenter, retrospective study conducted in Korea. We included children and adolescents aged <19 years who had undergone their first LGI endoscopy between 2016 and 2020. We compared clinicodemographic and endoscopic factors between groups divided according to the pre- and postCOVID-19 era in Korea. Results: We included 1307 patients in this study. Colonoscopies, instead of sigmoidoscopies, were conducted in most patients in the postCOVID-19 era compared to those in the preCOVID-19 era (86.9% vs. 78.5%, p = 0.007). The diagnosis of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) was also significantly higher in the postCOVID-19 era compared to the preCOVID-19 era (47.2% vs. 28.5%, p < 0.001). According to multivariate logistic regression analysis, age at LGI endoscopy, LGI bleeding indication, and IBD diagnosis were independently associated with the use of a colonoscopy over a sigmoidoscopy (odds ratio (OR) 1.19, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.12−1.27, p < 0.001; OR 0.56, 95% CI 0.37−0.83, p = 0.005; OR 1.80, 95% CI 1.20−2.77, p = 0.006, respectively). Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic has changed LGI endoscopy practice trends of pediatric gastroenterologists in Korea, who tended to perform lesser LGI endoscopies compared to previous years while conducting significantly more colonoscopies than sigmoidoscopies in the postCOVID-19 era. Furthermore, these colonoscopies were significantly associated with the diagnosis of IBD, as well as a significant increase in IBD diagnosis in the postCOVID-19 era.