• Dan Carter and Rami Eliakim.
• Department of Gastroenterology, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, affiliated with Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
• Isr Med Assoc J. 2017 Mar 1; 19 (3): 139-142.

BackgroundBowel ultrasound has several possible uses in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), including the initial evaluation of suspected IBD, monitoring of therapeutic response, detection of relapse, and diagnosis of complications as well as of extra-intestinal manifestations. However, its use has been limited mainly to countries where it is performed by the attending physician.ObjectivesTo investigate the feasibility and sensitivity of bedside bowel ultrasound performed by a gastroenterologist for assessing disease activity and complications in IBD.MethodsWe performed a feasibility study to compare the results of bowel ultrasound examination with those of another cross-sectional imaging modality (computed tomographic enterography or magnetic resonance enterography) in Crohn's disease, or with colonoscopy in ulcerative colitis.ResultsBetween May 2015 and March 2016, 178 bowel ultrasound examinations were performed in 178 patients with suspected or established diagnosis of IBD. In 79 cases the results of another cross-sectional imaging or endoscopic examination performed within 3 months prior to the ultrasound exam were available. The sensitivity for detection of intestinal bowel thickening (a surrogate of inflammation) was 90%, and for detection of Crohn's disease complications, namely bowel stenosis and inflammatory mass, was 94% and 75%, respectively.ConclusionsBowel ultrasound is a useful and feasible bedside imaging tool for the detection of inflammation and complications in IBD patients. Bedside bowel ultrasound can be a valuable non-invasive tool to assess disease activity and complications in IBD patients when performed by the attending physician.

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