‘There was nothing before this’: New IBD guidelines revealed

The European Crohn’s and Colitis Organisation (ECCO) has published a new international consensus on the dietary management of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
 
One GP dietitian expert said the ‘significant update’ is one for all GPs to be aware of.
 
The ECCO Consensus on Dietary Management of Inflammatory Bowel Disease provides evidence-based practical recommendations on how diet should be used to support people living with IBD.  
 
One of the statement’s key recommendations highlights the importance of multidisciplinary care, saying all patients with IBD should have access to an experienced dietitian.
 
Other evidence-based recommendations include updated advice on restrictive diets, dietary advice specific to Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, and pre-surgical nutritional care, with up to 80% of people with Crohn’s disease requiring surgery at some point in their lives.
 
Associate Professor Emma Halmos, from Monash University’s Department of Gastroenterology, helped to lead the development of the guideline and said it will help to standardise care delivered to people living with IBD.
 
‘For Australians with IBD, this will lead to improved access to specific and specialised dietary care that is based on science and avoids unnecessary restriction,’ she said.
 
There are currently 180,000 people in Australia living with Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis, according to Crohn’s and Colitis Australia.
 
Given it was 1932 when Dr Burrill Crohn published the first research paper on the disease that would be named after him, an overarching international guideline is well overdue, says Dr Terri-Lynne South, Chair of RACGP Specific Interests Obesity Management, and GP and dietitian.
 
‘There was nothing before this – these are the first consensus guidelines,’ Dr South told newsGP.  
 
‘There might have been smaller recommendations, but nothing that’s as comprehensive as these ones.’
 
Dr South said the new guidelines mean GPs are best placed as ‘case coordinators’ for patients with IBD, to ensure they are getting the tests and dietitian care they need, and are aware of the latest evidence.
 
‘In general, GPs have been there looking at the bloods, being mindful of micronutrients, inflammatory markers, those sorts of things, and raising the red flags about some of those potential complications, but not necessarily being involved in the actual therapies,’ she said.
 
‘GPs know their patients best, and can be part of that proactive way of checking in with patients [with IBD], such as “while you’re here for your flu vaccination did you know that there’s some new guidelines, and when did you last have a check-up with a dietitian?”.
 
‘GPs can’t be experts in all areas of general practice, but to know what significant new updates are coming out I think is important, and this would be one of them.’
 
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