Evidence Hub

Small Intestinal Dilation Is Associated With Severe Abdominal Symptoms of Food-Protein-Induced Enterocolitis Syndrome in Adults

Watanabe S, Sato A, Shibuya K, Kusuda R, Yauchi T, Fukuie T, Yamamoto-Hanada K, Ohya Y et al.

Allergy, 2026

26 participants

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Food-Protein-Induced Enterocolitis Syndrome (FPIES) is a non-IgE-mediated food allergy that causes gastrointestinal symptoms, though its anatomical origin and pathogenesis remain unclear. Abdominal distention is common in adult FPIES, but symptoms vary among patients. This study aimed to establish objective criteria for assessing abdominal distention and to clarify the pathophysiology and anatomical origin of FPIES.

METHODS: This study targeted 26 adult FPIES patients. Abdominal distention was broken down into eight factors, and an evaluation algorithm was developed based on items with high positivity rates. Clinical characteristics, blood, and imaging analyses were performed before and after OFC (oral food challenge) to investigate the pathophysiology.

RESULTS: Among 14 adult FPIES patients who underwent OFC, seven showed positive results. The latency period was 1.5 h, with the most frequent symptoms being abdominal distention (100%), abdominal pain, and nausea (71.4%). All patients received treatment with intravenous extracellular fluid infusion and ondansetron, which resulted in reduced symptom duration. In an evaluation of blood test data, there were no specific serological markers of FPIES, except in the severe case. Image analysis with computed tomography revealed significant dilation and edema of the small intestine during the FPIES event, suggesting that dilation of the small intestine is associated with adult FPIES.

CONCLUSION: These results are expected…

Read the paper

Related studies

Go deeper in Evidence Hub

Evidence Hub adds a study data sheet (design, sample size, evidence level, key numbers), an AI summary and a chat grounded in the paper's text.

Open this study Sign up free