News from the AGA

AGA Institute Guideline on the Management of Crohn’s Disease After Surgical Resection: AGA developed this guideline, technical review and Clinical Decision Support Tool to outline strategies to reduce disease recurrence in Crohn’s disease patients who have achieved remission following bowel resection. Prevention of endoscopic recurrence, a strong surrogate measure of surgical recurrence, was evaluated for the development of the guideline.

The guidelines are intended to reduce practice variation and promote high-value care. The current evidence supports the early prophylactic use of thiopurines and/or anti-TNF therapy in patients who are at higher risk for clinical recurrence. However, some patients at lower risk may opt for close endoscopic monitoring instead. Although all patients should undergo ileocolonoscopy at six to 12 months after surgical resection, surveillance for endoscopic recurrence is most important for patients not on any pharmacological prophylaxis. In general, those with endoscopic recurrence should undergo treatment with anti-TNF and/or thiopurine therapy.

This guideline is available in the January issue of Gastroenterology.

AGA Institute Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Management of Acute Liver Failure: AGA developed this guideline and technical review to provide recommendations about controversial diagnostic and treatment strategies and predictive models for outcome of acute liver failure (ALF), which have arisen since acute liver failure is difficult to study in randomized clinical trials.

Recommendations include a strong recommendation for the use of N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) in patients with ALF related to acetaminophen, but there remains a lack of data to allow recommendations for testing for Wilson’s disease and varicella zoster virus in patients with ALF. Although there are low-quality data, because there are therapies that may be beneficial in patients with ALF, recommendations to test for herpes simplex virus and autoimmune hepatitis are supported, as is hepatitis E virus testing in pregnant women with ALF.

This guideline is available in the February issue of Gastroenterology.
 

Announcing New Crohn’s & Colitis Congress

AGA and the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation are partnering to co-sponsor a new annual conference for health-care professionals and researchers. By joining the nation’s leading IBD patient organization with the premier GI professional organization, this will be the must-attend IBD conference, bringing state-of-the-art comprehensive care together with the latest research to advance prevention, treatment and cures for IBD patients.

Save the date – Jan. 18-20, 2018, in Las Vegas. Get ready to expand your knowledge, network with other leaders, and be inspired! Stay tuned for our website launch and more details coming this spring.