American College of Gastroenterology has released new clinical guidelines in the American Journal of Gastroenterology.
Here's what you need to know about the practice guidelines, which focus on preventative care in inflammatory bowel disease.
1. Patients with IBD do not receive adequate preventative services, when compared with rates of preventative services that general medical patients receive.
2. To address this issue, ACG encourages primary care physicians and gastroenterologists to co-manage health maintenance issues; for example, gastroenterologists should inform primary care providers of potential therapies related to immunomodulators and biologics.
3. Another key issue is ensuring vaccination documentation is kept current, since IBD patients may be treated with long-term immune-suppressive therapies that put them at risk for preventable infections.
4. Other health maintenance issues discussed in these clinical guidelines include screening for osteoporosis, cervical cancer, melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer, along with identifying depression and anxiety.