New data underscores a significant disparity in post-surgical Crohn’s disease monitoring: approximately 80 percent of patients experience endoscopic recurrence within one year after surgery, yet only 28 percent of clinical centers employ standardized ultrasound protocols for surveillance.
This gap between disease burden and diagnostic utilization has prompted international experts to develop standardized guidelines for intestinal ultrasound monitoring. Current clinical practice remains heavily dependent on endoscopy (85 percent of centers), CT/MRI imaging (65 percent), and blood markers (55 percent), while the potential of ultrasound as a non-invasive monitoring tool has been largely overlooked.
The new recommendations, published in The Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology, aim to address this underutilization by establishing evidence-based protocols for ultrasound assessment. Standardizing these monitoring approaches could improve early detection rates while reducing the need for more invasive procedures and ultimately improving patient outcomes in post-operative care.
Read the full article on GMJ Newsroom.
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