Improving comfort, convenience and outcomes for patients with IBD

For more than a decade, Sharon RosatiWilkie needed a yearly colonoscopy to help manage her Crohn’s disease.

Now she has something far better: the University of Chicago Medicine’s new, state-of-the-art intestinal ultrasound (IUS) program.

UChicago Medicine is the second hospital in the country to routinely offer IUS, prompting patients from across the U.S. to travel to Chicago for the procedure.

The Latest In Inflammatory Bowel Disease Treatment

The 15-minute, noninvasive ultrasound is similar to the one a pregnant person would have: Gel is applied to the abdomen and a probe is rolled over the area. Then a detailed, live look at the small bowel and colon appears on the screen.

The gastroenterologist can see how the treatment is working, show the patient what is happening in real time, and immediately determine if there’s inflammation, active disease or other complications.

» No colonoscopy prep is required.

» No sedation is necessary.

» There is no internal probe or discomfort.

» It can be done as often as necessary.

No More Colonoscopy Prep

Rosati-Wilkie used to spend an entire night to prep and take the next day off work for a colonoscopy. Now, she just goes in for her routine clinic visit, has the IUS in the office and heads back to work within the hour. The efficiency saves everyone time and money.

Another benefit, Rosati-Wilkie said, is that she gets to see what’s going on in her body — something she couldn’t do while under sedation during a colonoscopy.

“This procedure gives me a lot of comfort, and that’s important to someone who has a disease that never goes away. You’re so much more at ease with an intestinal ultrasound,” said Rosati-Wilkie, 63, of Oak Brook, Illinois. “It’s a huge breakthrough.”

“IUS is a game-changing tool for monitoring Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis,” said

Noa Krugliak Cleveland, MD, Director of UChicago Medicine’s Intestinal Ultrasound Program. “It has not only been shown to improve patient outcomes, but also improves our patients’ understanding of their disease and shared decision-making with their provider.

Improving Care For Inflammatory Bowel Disease Patients

Aside from being convenient for patients — so they don’t have to return to the office for another CT scan or colonoscopy and everything that goes along with that — it’s cost-effective, immediately gratifying and enables rapid follow-up, said David T. Rubin, MD, Rosati-Wilkie’s doctor and UChicago Medicine’s Chief of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition.

“That’s the reason Sharon has benefited from the intestinal ultrasound. And she’s one of many. Every patient we’ve offered this to has felt similarly,” he said.

Rosati-Wilkie was one of the first UChicago Medicine patients to try IUS in August 2022. Krugliak Cleveland was able to show her on the screen how her resection surgery healed and that her disease was in remission.

The findings helped guide her disease management and address other symptoms, knowing they weren’t due to active inflammation.

“It put me very at ease,” Rosati-Wilkie said. “This procedure will give so many people the opportunity to feel this way.”

Until now, physicians lacked a tool that allowed real-time, in-office imaging to see if their patients’ IBD was active and if treatment was working, Krugliak Cleveland said.

“Intestinal ultrasound is improving our understanding of IBD and the care of our patients,” she said.

Many people with IBD have symptoms flare when their disease is active, but some do not. There could be a lag time of several months between the time their disease becomes active and the development of symptoms. So, it is possible to have a disease relapse and not realize it.

That’s why proactive disease monitoring is so important for those with IBD. Regular monitoring can help prevent IBD from becoming active. It enables patients and their doctors to adjust treatment before they experience pain, urgent bowel movements and other uncomfortable symptoms, halting the progression of the disease and other poor outcomes.

The latest IBD monitoring option is intestinal ultrasound, which does not require any preparation and is performed in clinic by placing an ultrasound probe on the abdomen. Intestinal ultrasound can detect IBD relapse weeks before symptoms occur.

The University of Chicago Medicine

Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center is one of only a few IBD centers in the country — and the only one in the Midwest — to offer intestinal ultrasound to IBD patients.

Noa Krugliak Cleveland, MD, specializes in gastroenterology and serves as Director of the Intestinal Ultrasound Program at UChicago Medicine. Here, she answers common questions about intestinal ultrasound and how it can benefit patients:

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF INTESTINAL ULTRASOUND FOR PEOPLE WITH IBD?

Intestinal ultrasound is the latest in treatment for Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. This accurate, reliable technology can detect disease relapse weeks — if not months — before symptoms occur.

An intestinal ultrasound can verify if you are experiencing a relapse by displaying in real time what is happening inside your bowel. Then, you and your doctor can

IBD symptoms?

talk about how to modify your treatment so you feel better faster.

Intestinal ultrasound is also convenient. It doesn’t require any advance preparation like fasting or “bowel prep.” It is also painless and does not involve any radiation. It takes about 20 minutes or less to complete.

HOW DO DOCTORS AT UCHICAGO MEDICINE USE INTESTINAL ULTRASOUND TO MONITOR IBD?

Your IBD specialist may recommend that you have intestinal ultrasounds regularly to monitor your disease. By providing highly accurate images of your bowel, an intestinal ultrasound can measure the degree of active inflammation. Your doctor can then use this information to assess changes since your last visit.

Your doctor may also suggest having an intestinal ultrasound after you start a new therapy to check how your body is responding. Research suggests that intestinal ultrasound can show how well a treatment is working for you as early as two weeks. So, if a treatment isn’t controlling your inflammation, your doctor can quickly adjust your care plan.

HOW DO I GET AN INTESTINAL ULTRASOUND?

Your UChicago Medicine IBD specialist can determine if intestinal ultrasound would be beneficial for you. If so, one of our specially trained gastroenterologists can perform an intestinal ultrasound during your regular clinic visit.

Your doctor will apply gel to your abdomen and use a small probe to view the interior of your intestines during the procedure. The results are immediate, so you and your doctor can discuss whether changing your treatment regimen would improve your symptoms.