Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Achieved Fistula Healing in a Young Patient With Severe Refractory Perianal Crohn's Disease.

The presence of perianal fistulae constitutes a more severe phenotype of Crohn's disease (CD) that often requires intensive medical therapy, wound care, and surgical intervention. Despite therapeutic advances in inflammatory bowel disease, the treatment of perianal fistulae remains challenging. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) has been proposed as an adjunctive treatment modality for induction of fistula healing.

Clinical utility of thiopurine metabolite monitoring in inflammatory bowel disease and its impact on healthcare utilization in Singapore.

Background And Aim: Thiopurines are recommended for maintenance of steroid-free remission (SFR) in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Thiopurine metabolite monitoring (MM) is increasingly used in the West but remains novel in Singapore, with limited information on its therapeutic and economic benefits. Hence, this study aims to investigate MM's clinical utility and its impact on healthcare resource utilization in Singaporean IBD patients.

Oral Supplementation of Tocotrienol-Rich Fraction Alleviates Severity of Ulcerative Colitis in Mice.

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is characterized by damaged colonic mucosa and submucosa layers that are caused by excessive inflammatory reactions and oxidative stress. This study aimed to examine the use of tocotrienol-rich fraction (TRF) in mitigating damages caused by UC on the colon epithelium. Dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced UC mice were treated with vehicle control, TRF, alpha-tocopherol (αTP) and 5-aminosalicylic acid (5-ASA).

A review of vedolizumab and ustekinumab for the treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases.

Recent advancement in the understanding of the pathophysiology of inflammatory bowel disease has seen an expansion in therapeutic options. Vedolizumab, a selective α4β7 inhibitor, and ustekinumab, an IL 12/23 p40 inhibitor, have provided the much-awaited out-of-class alternatives for patients who have failed or who are intolerant to anti-Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF) therapy. However, questions remain as to how we may best use these novel therapeutic agents.

Healing the mucosa in Crohn's disease: does it matter?

Clinical remission has been the therapeutic goal of Crohn's disease treatment for many years. While it has helped to ameliorate the symptoms, this treatment strategy has not brought about significant changes in the need for abdominal surgery in the natural history of Crohn's disease. The advent of biological agents (biologics) has shown that it is possible to induce and maintain mucosal healing in a significant proportion of treated patients.

Associations between diet and disease activity in ulcerative colitis patients using a novel method of data analysis.

Background: The relapsing nature and varying geographical prevalence of ulcerative colitis (UC) implicates environmental factors such as diet in its aetiology.

Methods: In order to determine which foods might be related to disease activity in UC a new method of dietary analysis was developed and applied. Eighty-one UC patients were recruited at all stages of the disease process.

The Incidence of self-prescribed oral complementary and alternative medicine use by patients with gastrointestinal diseases.

Goals: To assess the incidence of oral complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) usage by gastroenterology patients at a single university center and compare against controls.

Background: The public awareness and usage of CAM have increased. The use of CAM has been described in patients with functional bowel disorders; however, their role in patients with gastrointestinal disease is less clear.

Probiotics, prebiotics and antibiotics in inflammatory bowel disease.

Probiotics and prebiotics are the sort of therapy that most patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) wish for. They are without significant side effects, except possibly an increase in gas with prebiotics, and so far, appear to be entirely safe. However, are they effective? More than a dozen studies using probiotics in IBD have now been reported, and there is dear benefit in pouchitis and possibly also in Crohn's, although there are so many clinical types of this condition that a clear indication has yet to emerge.