Why is ultrasound needed in inflammatory bowel disease?

Abstract

Intestinal ultrasound had been performed in several countries for more than 30 years, but for a longer period had been in
the hands of few experts. With new evidence showing that the method is accurate and has excellent performance especially in
treatment monitoring and detection of complications of IBD, there is a growing interest in performing this method by those
physicians who care for IBD patients in in- and outpatient settings. The authors are convinced that intestinal ultrasound is helping to reduce radiation exposure and enables fast and less expensive decision-making by taking patients’ needs into account. This paper series contains three parts. This first part summarizes guideline recommendations on the use of ultrasound in IBD, describes the typical findings that can be obtained at the point of care without advanced ultrasound technologies and helps to
standardize documentation. The second part will provide an overview on actual ultrasound-activity-scores in IBD and report about advanced multimodal ultrasound modalities and endoscopic and interventional ultrasound. These modalities should be provided by specialized IBD centers. The third part will enhance a wider overview of treatment control, mural and extramural disease complications as well as extraintestinal manifestations. Advantages and limitations of the method are discussed, with an outlook how to optimize implementation in the future.