Role of contrast-enhanced ultrasonography in the management of chronic inflammatory bowel disease

Abstract

The incidence of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) has increased over the past few decades. Also, the management of patients with IBD is associated with a relevant use of healthcare resources, and requires a multidisciplinary approach, with patients being cared for in monographic units. The umbrella term IBD includes ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD). The former condition involves the colonic mucosa alone, from the rectum in a cephalad direction with a variable extent, whereas the latter is a segmental transmural condition that may involve any portion of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Ileocolonoscopy is the gold standard for the diagnosis and follow-up of IBD, but can only assess intraluminal findings, hence it must be supplemented with techniques capable of transmural evaluation and of exploring scarcely accessible bowel segments, namely gastrointestinal ultrasound (GIUS), computed tomography (CT), and MR enterography (MRE).