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The risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) is known to be increased in patients with IBD. However, no specific consensus statements exist regarding the prevention of postoperative VTE in patients with this disease. The results of a large retrospective cohort study quantifying the risk of postoperative VTE in patients with IBD are discussed.
Treatment success for Helicobacter pylori, a major human pathogen, with popular drug regimens has generally declined to unacceptably low levels. As part of the worldwide effort to identify novel drug regimens that will reliably achieve high levels of success, Tay, Marshall and colleagues report their results with novel multidrug-tailored therapies.
Ciclosporin and infliximab are used as rescue therapies for the treatment of severe steroid-refractory ulcerative colitis. Now, an open-label, head-to-head randomized controlled trial has demonstrated that these drugs are well-tolerated and have equivalent efficacy in inducing short-term clinical response, mucosal healing and decreasing colectomy rates at 3 months.
Treatment of recurrent Clostridium difficile infection is challenging. New research now replicates human disease in a mouse model, shedding light on why antibiotics often fail to prevent further recurrences and demonstrating that targeted manipulation of the gut microbiota could be a feasible treatment option.
IBS is a common disorder that can have an enormous negative effect on patients and society as a whole; however, many patients do not achieve adequate symptom relief with the currently available therapies. In this Review, Magnus Halland and Nicholas Talley discuss the latest treatments for IBS, including novel nonpharmacological and pharmacological approaches.
Hepatitis E is common in developing countries, and occasional cases of this disease have been identified in developed countries. The currently available diagnostic tests have undergone limited testing and often yield discordant results. In this article, Rakesh Aggarwal reviews the information on diagnosis of hepatitis E, including past and current diagnostic tests.
As the burden of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) continues to increase, attention turns to the appropriate management of the disease. In this Review, the authors discuss and critique the currently available medical interventions for the treatment and management of HCC, as well as introduce future developments in the field.
The enteric nervous system (ENS) arises from neural crest-derived cells. Here, Heather Young and colleagues provide an overview of the progress made in the past five years in our understanding of ENS development and the potential involvement of defects in ENS development in paediatric motility disorders.
Patients with IBD who are reportedly in remission, but continue to have symptoms of abdominal discomfort and bowel dysfunction, could have IBS in addition to IBD. This Perspectives article examines the relationship between IBS and IBD, and discusses how to diagnose and treat IBS in patients with co-existing IBD.