Top stories in gastroenterology: Study finds most effective bowel preparations, user-friendly tool helps identify colectomy risk

Among the top stories in gastroenterology last week were a comparative study that determined the most effective and best-tolerated bowel preparations and study results for a user-friendly tool that helped guide therapy choices for patients with ulcerative colitis by allowing for easier identification of patients at higher risk for total proctocolectomy.

Other highlights included a study that found Humira therapy helped improve both clinical and patient-reported Crohn’s disease outcomes for up to 6 years, data that suggested an enterovirus infection in early childhood could be a trigger for the development of celiac disease in children with increased genetic risk for the disease and a meta-analysis that concluded there is a nine fold increase in the prevalence of small intestine bacterial overgrowth among patients with inflammatory bowel disease compared with other individuals.

Comparative study finds most effective bowel preps

A comparison study, published in the American Journal of Gastroenterology, found the most effective and best-tolerated bowel preparations, which researchers hope will help provide some guidance on which one of the many commercially available options to use. Read more.

User-friendly tool helps identify colectomy risk in patients with ulcerative colitis

A user-friendly tool, designed by researchers to help guide therapy choices for patients with ulcerative colitis, helped physicians identify patients at higher risk for total proctocolectomy, according to study results published in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases. Read more.

Humira safe, effective in Crohn’s through 6 years

Humira therapy helped improve both clinical and patient-reported Crohn’s disease outcomes for up to 6 years, according to study results published in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases. Read more.

Early enterovirus infection could trigger celiac disease in susceptible children

An enterovirus infection in early childhood could be a trigger for the development of celiac disease in children with increased genetic risk for the disease, according to data published in The BMJ. Read more.

Small intestine bacterial overgrowth prevalence drastically higher in patients with inflammatory bowel disease

There is a nine fold increase in the prevalence of small intestine bacterial overgrowth among patients with inflammatory bowel disease compared with other individuals, according to results of a meta-analysis. Read more.