Endoscopy in Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Abstract

Endoscopy is essential in the diagnosis, assessment and
management of patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease
(IBD). It is useful in distinguishing between Ulcerative
Colitis and Crohn’s Disease and to exclude other diagnoses
with similar presentation. Accurate diagnosis in patients
with IBD has important implications for medical therapy,
selection of surgical options and in predicting overall prognosis.
New emerging technologies allow detailed assessment
of the affected gut and enable targeted tissue sampling.
Various endoscopic therapeutic interventions can be applied
in the case of some complications that may arise due to
IBD. In this article we review the indications for the use of
endoscopy in IBD, focusing on its role in diagnosis, assessment
of extent and severity, surveillance for dysplasia and
cancer, and in addition, we discuss the potential use of
emerging endoscopic technologies in the diagnosis and
management of IBD patients.
Key words: Endoscopy, Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Diagnosis