No abstract

Measurement of HACA and infliximab concentration impacts management and is clinically useful. Increasing the infliximab dose in patients who have HACAs is ineffective, whereas in patients with subtherapeutic infliximab concentrations, this strategy may be a good alternative to changing to another anti-TNF agent.

Recent data suggest that infl ammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients do not receive preventive services at the same rate as general medical patients. Patients with IBD often consider their gastroenterologist to be the primary provider of care. To improve the care delivered to IBD patients, health maintenance issues need to be co-managed by both the gastroenterologist and primary care team. Gastroenterologists need to explicitly inform the primary care provider of the unique needs of the IBD patient, especially those on immunomodulators and biologics or being considered for such therapy. In particular, documentation of up to date vaccinations are crucial as IBD patients are often treated with long-term immune-suppressive therapies and may be at increased risk for infections, many of which are preventable with vaccinations. Health maintenance issues addressed in this guideline include identifi cation, safety and appropriate timing of vaccinations, screening for osteoporosis, cervical cancer, melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer as well as identifi cation of depression and anxiety and smoking cessation. To accomplish these health maintenance goals, coordination between the primary care provider, gastroenterology team and other specialists is necessary. of evidence, we entered data from the papers of highest evidence into the GRADE program (accessible at http://www.gradepro.org ). Th e recommendation statements from this guideline are shown in Table 1 . Summary statements, when listed, are designed to be descriptive in nature without associated evidence-based ratings. VACCINATIONSRecent data suggest that IBD patients do not receive preventive services at the same rate as general medical patients ( 2 ). Members of the gastroenterology team are oft en the only clinicians that a patient with IBD will see. As such, it is incumbent upon gastroenterologists to take a proactive role in the health care needs of their IBD patients ( 3-5 ). It is crucial to clarify with the patient the limits of the specialist's responsibilities and delegate routine health care issues to the primary care clinician. It is equally important to educate the primary care clinician to the unique health maintenance needs of the IBD patient, especially those on immunomodulators and biologic agents. Although it appears that both primary care clinicians and gastroenterologists are hesitant to take ownership of vaccinations ( 6-8 ), it is reasonable ( 9 ) that vaccination recommendations be the responsibility of the treating gastroenterologist, but the actual delivery/administration of these vaccines may be a shared responsibility ( 10-13 ). Communicating specifi c recommendations to the primary care team in a concise fashion are needed. Consider empowering the patient by giving written recommendations to bring to their primary care physician. Clinicians sharing an electronic medical record should use this platform to send recommendations to the referring clinician.Patients with IBD are oft en treated with long-term immunesuppressive therapies and may t...

Nonadherence is associated with multiple concomitant medications, male gender, and single status. These patient characteristics may be helpful in targeting those patients at higher risk for nonadherence.

Rifaximin improves IBS symptoms for up to 10 weeks after the discontinuation of therapy.

VDZ is a safe and effective treatment option for moderate-severe CD in routine practice. Clinical remission and deep remission (clinical remission and mucosal healing) can be achieved in 1/3 of individuals, and a minority of individuals require discontinuation of therapy due to adverse events.

No abstract

SUMMARYUlcerative colitis is a chronic inflammatory and debilitating disease requiring lifelong treatment. First-line therapy for ulcerative colitis is 5-aminosalicylic acid, which suffers from poor patient adherence outside the clinical trial setting.Formulations to deliver 5-aminosalicylic acid to the disease activity site, both orally and topically, are often inconvenient and require multiple daily dosing. Such regimens can interfere with normal life and reduce the overall quality of life, negatively impacting on treatment adherence and leading to poorer long-term outcomes. These include increased morbidity with an elevated risk of symptomatic relapse, possible greater risk of colorectal cancer and higher overall costs of care.Ulcerative colitis patients cite treatment regimen complexity, tablet quantity and dose frequency as key negative influencers of adherence. Solutions to these issues include addressing patient concerns, simplifying daily regimens and utilizing new formulations such as micropellet and multimatrix oral formulations, rectal gel and once-daily suppository formulations.This review examines the prevalence and impact of non-adherence to 5-aminosalicylic acid therapy among patients with ulcerative colitis, as well as drug delivery strategies that may enhance dosing regimens to improve patient acceptability, adherence and long-term clinical outcomes. It is a combination of understanding patient behaviour, recognizing signs of non-adherent behaviour and utilizing management strategies to change behaviour that will improve patient outcomes.