Blog post by Michael Dolinger, MD MBA
Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) can be challenging to manage, but advances in technology, like Intestinal Ultrasound (IUS), offer new ways to monitor the condition. Whether you're dealing with Crohn’s Disease or Ulcerative Colitis, IUS might become an essential tool in your care plan.
What is Intestinal Ultrasound?
IUS is a safe, non-invasive way to check the condition of your intestines in real-time. It uses sound waves to create images of your intestines, allowing your doctor to see inflammation, thickening of the bowel wall, and other potential complications. Unlike traditional methods, like endoscopy or MRI, IUS can be done quickly during a clinic visit and doesn’t involve radiation or invasive procedures.
What Can IUS Detect?
With IUS, your doctor can monitor changes in the thickness of your bowel wall and detect inflammation. This is important because, in IBD, inflammation often causes the intestinal walls to thicken. By tracking these changes over time, your healthcare team can see how well your treatment is working. IUS can also detect complications such as strictures (narrowing of the intestines) or abscesses early, potentially avoiding more invasive procedures.
How is IUS Response and Remission Defined?
Recently, experts have developed clear definitions of how to interpret IUS results to assess treatment success in IBD:
- IUS Response: This is when treatment begins to work, and the signs of inflammation in your intestines start to decrease. A key indicator of response is a reduction in bowel wall thickness (BWT) by more than 25% or a decrease of at least 2.0 mm. The response can also be noted by the reduction in color Doppler signal by 1 point and a decrease of at least 1.0 mm in BWT.
- IUS Remission: Remission means the inflammation has healed, and your intestines are closer to their normal state. For remission, the bowel wall thickness should be less than or equal to 3.0 mm with no abnormal blood flow (color Doppler signal). Achieving this result suggests that the treatment has been highly effective in controlling inflammation.
When Are These Assessments Done?
For Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis, the timing of IUS assessments is important. After starting or changing your treatment, the ideal times for IUS are:
- Baseline (before starting treatment)
- Around Week 14 (to check early response)some text
- Many physicians will check 4-8 weeks after starting a new therapy
- Between Weeks 26-52 (to confirm continued improvement or remission)
Frequent IUS checks are especially helpful because they allow for real-time treatment adjustments without invasive procedures like colonoscopy.
What This Means for You
As a patient, IUS offers an easy, painless, and repeatable method for monitoring your disease. It reduces the need for frequent invasive procedures and radiation-based imaging, making it a safer option for long-term disease management. Your doctor can quickly see if your treatment is working, helping them make the best decisions for your care without delay.
Ask your healthcare provider if IUS could be a valuable tool in your IBD management. It’s a great way to keep track of your treatment’s effectiveness and help you get back to living your life with confidence.
**Our open access series are blog posts highlighting intestinal ultrasound research that is freely available for public consumption. These blog posts summarize the key points from the latest intestinal ultrasound open access original research, editorials, guides, and consensus statements. The original link to download the article for free in full can be found by clicking here. Otherwise, the summary above should provide some of the valuable information you may be looking for.
