Transcutaneous Bowel Sonography for Inflammatory Bowel Disease Is Sensitive and Specific When Performed in a Nonexpert Low‐Volume North American Center

Abstract

Bowel sonography for inflammatory bowel disease can be performed in low-volume centers and provides diagnostic accuracy for luminal disease comparable with published data, although it is less sensitive for complications of Crohn disease.

Can ultrasound be used as the primary imaging in children with suspected Crohn disease?

“…In children, the sensitivity of US ranges from 48% to 88% with a specificity range of 57% to 100% [14][15][16][17][18][19]. The use of US for evaluation of Crohn disease started in Europe and is now being introduced in the United States [4][5][6][7][8][9][10]20]. As a tertiary pediatric medical center with extensive pediatric US experience and a high-volume Crohn disease clinic, our study aim was to evaluate the utility of US as a first-line imaging modality for evaluating Crohn disease in children with clinical suspicion of IBD.…”

“…US has emerged as an alternative imaging modality for the diagnosis and follow-up of Crohn disease in children [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10], with a few studies, mainly on adults, showing sensitivity and specificity comparable to CT enterography and MRE [12,13]. In children, the sensitivity of US ranges from 48% to 88% with a specificity range of 57% to 100% [14][15][16][17][18][19].…”

“…While the efficacy of US to evaluate Crohn disease in adults has been validated by many studies in Europe, to our knowledge there are few studies in children in either Europe or North America [5][6][7][8]. Despite this limitation, several authors already suggest using US as the first line of imaging for screening and follow-up of Crohn disease in children [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10].…”

“…US does not use ionizing radiation and is also inexpensive compared to CT enterography and MRE. Bowel US has been a routine part of IBD evaluation in Europe for more than 20 years [3,4]; however, this modality is only now becoming established in the evaluation of patients in North America [4][5][6][7][8][9][10]. While the efficacy of US to evaluate Crohn disease in adults has been validated by many studies in Europe, to our knowledge there are few studies in children in either Europe or North America [5][6][7][8].…”

“…Bowel US has been a routine part of IBD evaluation in Europe for more than 20 years [3,4]; however, this modality is only now becoming established in the evaluation of patients in North America [4][5][6][7][8][9][10]. While the efficacy of US to evaluate Crohn disease in adults has been validated by many studies in Europe, to our knowledge there are few studies in children in either Europe or North America [5][6][7][8]. Despite this limitation, several authors already suggest using US as the first line of imaging for screening and follow-up of Crohn disease in children [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10].…”