The Use of Endoscopic Ultrasonography in Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A Review of the Literature

The diagnosis of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) can sometimes be challenging. By corroborating clinical, imaging and histological data, the two main entities of IBD, ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease (CD), can be differentiated in most cases. However, there remains 10-20% of patients where the diagnosis cannot be accurately established, in which case the term IBD unclassified is used. The imaging techniques most used to evaluate patients with IBD include colonoscopy, ultrasonography and magnetic resonance imaging. Endoscopic ultrasonography is mainly recommended for the evaluation of perianal CD. Through this work, we aim to identify other uses of this method in the case of patients with IBD.

Automated summary

The diagnosis of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) can be challenging, but can usually be differentiated into ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease (CD) by examining clinical, imaging and histological data. However, for 10-20% of patients, the diagnosis cannot be accurately established and they are classified as IBD unclassified. Common imaging techniques used for evaluating IBD include colonoscopy, ultrasonography and magnetic resonance imaging. Endoscopic ultrasonography is mainly recommended for evaluating perianal CD, but this study aims to identify other uses of this method in patients with IBD.