Point‐of‐care gastrointestinal ultrasound in inflammatory bowel disease: An accurate alternative for disease monitoring

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Point‐of‐care ultrasound (POCUS) is a noninvasive alternative to ileocolonoscopy for monitoring disease activity in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) but is underutilized in practice. Accuracy data are needed to engender clinician confidence in POCUS and increase uptake. The aim of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of POCUS compared to ileocolonoscopy in detecting active disease and extent in patients with IBD. METHODS: A prospective, blinded study was performed at a single tertiary center in South Australia between May 2017 and May 2018. Consecutive patients with a formal diagnosis of IBD who underwent both POCUS and ileocolonoscopy within 30 days of one another, performed to evaluate IBD disease activity, were eligible for participation. The accuracy of POCUS compared to ileocolonoscopy was assessed using sensitivity, specificity, and Cohen's kappa coefficient analyses. RESULTS: A total of 74 patients were included in the final analysis, 35 (47%) of whom had Crohn's disease and 39 (53%) ulcerative colitis; 37 subjects (50%) underwent a POCUS and ileocolonoscopy on the same day. POCUS demonstrated 91% sensitivity and 83% specificity for detecting endoscopically active IBD, correlating with a positive predictive value (PPV) of 89%, a negative predictive value (NPV) of 86%, and a kappa coefficient of 0.74 (88%). POCUS defined disease extent with 87% sensitivity and 81% specificity, correlating with a PPV of 85% and NPV of 83% and a kappa coefficient of 0.70 (85%). CONCLUSION: POCUS is accurate in defining disease activity and extent in IBD compared to ileocolonoscopy. POCUS represents an appealing, noninvasive alternative to ileocolonoscopy for monitoring disease activity in IBD.