P241 Gastrointestinal ultrasound instead of magnetic resonance enterography: Large potential cost savings with limited clinical downsides

Background Gastrointestinal ultrasound (GIUS) is a non-invasive imaging modality capable of detecting intestinal inflammation & associated complications. It has comparable sensitivity & specificity to magnetic resonance enterography (MRE) in detecting ileocolonic disease, however it is less expensive (£24 vs £180) & can be performed at point of care. We aimed to establish the proportion of MREs that could have been performed as GIUS at a tertiary inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) unit, the potential cost savings, & the predicted pathology miss-rates. Methods All MREs performed in January 2018 were retrospectively reviewed. Demographics, scan indication, IBD characteristics, surgical history, & gastrointestinal & non-gastrointestinal findings were collected. Indications deemed suitable for GIUS included: assessment of disease activity of known small bowel (SB) Crohn’s disease; first assessment for presence of SB disease in IBD; & investigation for SB disease in patients without a known diagnosis of IBD. Obesity, complicated surgical history (>1 resection or strictureplasty involving different segments, or stoma), & known proximal SB disease were deemed unsuitable. Results 105 MREs were performed in January 2018. 59 (56%) were deemed suitable for GIUS instead of MRE. Most common reasons for unsuitability included complex surgical history (n=17, 37%), obesity (n=14, 30%), non-appropriate indication (n=12, 26%) & known upper gastrointestinal disease (n=10, 22%). Of suitable cases, 32/59 (54%) had active inflammation detected including 17 (53%) isolated ileal, 8 (25%) ileocolonic, & 6 (19%) isolated colonic. In one case performed as first assessment for SB disease, both ileal & jejunal disease were found, the latter likely to be missed with GIUS. No cases of isolated upper gastrointestinal inflammation were found. Regarding non-gastrointestinal findings in potential GIUS patients, there were two cases of pancreatic cysts necessitating further investigation with serial MRIs & endoscopic ultrasound, yielding a side branch intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm & a benign serous cyst adenoma. One case of multiple high T2 skeletal lesions was deemed clinically insignificant following further investigations. No other significant extra-intestinal findings not expected to be seen on GIUS were identified. Conclusion Over 50% of MREs could have been performed as GIUS instead, with a potential annual cost saving of over £110,000. No instances of inflammation would have been missed based on distribution, although in one case the full extent of disease may not have been identified on GIUS. Incidental non-gastrointestinal findings resulted in multiple investigations but were of limited clinical significance.

Gastrointestinal Ultrasound in Functional Disorders of the Gastrointestinal Tract - EFSUMB Consensus Statement

Abdominal ultrasonography and intestinal ultrasonography are widely used as first diagnostic tools for investigating patients with abdominal symptoms, mainly for excluding organic diseases. However, gastrointestinal ultrasound (GIUS), as a real-time diagnostic imaging method, can also provide information on motility, flow, perfusion, peristalsis, and organ filling and emptying, with high temporal and spatial resolution. Thanks to its noninvasiveness and high repeatability, GIUS can investigate functional gastrointestinal processes and functional gastrointestinal diseases (FGID) by studying their behavior over time and their response to therapy and providing insight into their pathophysiologic mechanisms. The European Federation of Societies for Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology (EFSUMB) has established a Task Force Group consisting of GIUS experts, which developed clinical recommendations and guidelines on the role of GIUS in several acute and chronic gastrointestinal diseases. This review is dedicated to the role of GIUS in assisting the diagnosis of FGID and particularly in investigating patients with symptoms of functional disorders, such as dysphagia, reflux disorders, dyspepsia, abdominal pain, bloating, and altered bowel habits. The available scientific evidence of GIUS in detecting, assessing, and investigating FGID are reported here, while highlighting sonographic findings and its usefulness in a clinical setting, defining the actual and potential role of GIUS in the management of patients, and providing information regarding future applications and research.

Insights into the role of gastrointestinal ultrasound in ulcerative colitis

Endoscopic evaluation with histological sampling is the gold standard for the diagnosis and follow-up of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), but in the past few years, gastrointestinal ultrasound (GIUS) has been gaining ground. Due to the transmural nature of inflammation in Crohn’s disease, GIUS has been mainly applied in this context. However, GIUS is now being reported to be accurate also for ulcerative colitis (UC). This review summarizes current knowledge on the use of GIUS in UC, with a focus on clinical practice. The review covers topics such as GIUS parameters, especially bowel wall thickness; the use of GIUS in assessing disease extent and in monitoring disease activity; GIUS indexes and scores; and the combination of GIUS with transperineal ultrasound for a better assessment of the rectum. With the always growing body of evidence supporting the accuracy of GIUS in UC, this diagnostic imaging modality can be expected to play a bigger role in disease flare evaluation, early treatment monitoring, and acute severe disease management.

Assessment of a Hands-On Seminar on Gastrointestinal Ultrasound

Transabdominal gastrointestinal (GI) ultrasound (US), despite its utility, is not a common procedure and underappreciated owing to its difficulty to perform. This study aimed to disseminate the skills of GIUS and assess the impact of our hands-on seminar. We annually held a half-day, hands-on seminar on GIUS at University of Toyama Hospital for physicians and sonographers from 2015 to 2017. Two months after the seminar, we inquired about clinical attainment by questionnaire. Out of 55 participants, 46 (83.6%) returned their questionnaires. Twenty participants (43.5%) reported that they had successfully diagnosed at least one GI disorder via GIUS since the seminar. Residual analyses stratified by the participants’ background showed that the novices, those having < 2 years’ experience in performing abdominal US, or no prior knowledge of GIUS, had significantly lower attainment rates (23.5% and 12.5%, respectively) than the others. Participants with 2 to 5 years’ experience in performing abdominal US or with some knowledge of GIUS had much higher rates of diagnosing GI disorders (54.5% and 57.9%, respectively). Nearly half of the participants had identified GI disorders using GIUS in 2 months following the training. The hands-on seminar was beneficial in disseminating these skills among a wide range of US operators.

Systematic Review: Gastrointestinal Ultrasound Scoring Indices for Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Background and Aims Serial measurements of luminal disease activity may facilitate inflammatory bowel disease management. Gastrointestinal ultrasound is an easily performed, non-invasive alternative to other assessment modes. However, its widespread use is limited by concerns regarding validity, reliability, and responsiveness. We systematically identified ultrasound scoring indices used to evaluate inflammatory bowel disease activity and examine their operating characteristics. Methods Electronic databases were searched from inception to June 14, 2019 using pre-defined terms. Studies that reported on gastrointestinal ultrasound index operating properties in an inflammatory bowel disease population were eligible for inclusion. Study characteristics, index components, and operating property data [ie, validity, reliability, responsiveness, sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value] were extracted. The QUADAS-2 tool was used to examine study-level risk of bias. Results Of the 2610 studies identified, 26 studies reporting on 21 ultrasound indices were included. The most common index components included bowel wall thickness, colour Doppler imaging, and bowel wall stratification. The correlation between ultrasound indices and references standards ranged r = 0.62–0.95 and k = 0.40–0.96. Sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive predictive value, and negative predictive values ranged 39–100%, 63–100%, 73–100%, 57–100%, and 40–100%, respectively. Reliability and responsiveness data were limited. Most [92%, 24/26] studies received at least one unclear or high risk of bias rating. Conclusions Several gastrointestinal ultrasound indices for use in inflammatory bowel disease have been developed. Future research should focus on fully validating existing or novel gastrointestinal ultrasound scoring instruments for assessment of Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.

Gastrointestinal Ultrasound Can Predict Endoscopic Activity in Crohn’s Disease

Purpose To explore the ability of gastrointestinal ultrasound (GIUS) to separate patients in endoscopic remission from patients with active disease in a heterogeneous hospital cohort with Crohn’s disease (CD). Materials and Methods 145 CD patients scheduled for ileocolonoscopy were prospectively included. The endoscopic disease activity was quantified using the Simple Endoscopic Score for Crohn’s disease (SES-CD), and mucosal healing was strictly defined as SES-CD = 0. Ultrasound remission was defined as wall thickness < 3 mm (< 4 mm in the rectum). Additionally, SES-CD was compared to color Doppler, Harvey Bradshaw’s index (HBI), C-reactive protein (CRP) and calprotectin. 23 patients were examined by two investigators for interobserver assessment. Results 102 had active disease and 43 patients were in remission. GIUS yielded a sensitivity of 92.2 % and a specificity of 86 % for wall thickness and a sensitivity of 66.7 % and a specificity of 97.7 % for color Doppler. The sensitivity and specificity were 34.3 % and 88.4 %, respectively, for HBI, 35.7 % and 82.9 %, respectively, for CRP and 55.9 % and 82.1 %, respectively, for calprotectin. The interobserver analysis revealed excellent agreement for wall thickness (k = 0.90) and color Doppler (k = 0.91) measurements. Conclusion GIUS has a high sensitivity for detecting endoscopic activity. Accordingly, bowel ultrasound has the potential to reduce the number of routine ileocolonoscopies in patients with CD.