Diagnosis Of Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Mildly Elevated Faecal Calprotectin: Observation From A Clinical Audit In District Hospital In The UK

Abstract

Faecal Calprotectin (FC) is a marker to diagnose inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), that is ulcerative colitis & Crohn’s disease. Identifying IBD from other gut related disorder is of prime importance in managing the condition. FCis cheap and non-invasive, it also helps in assessing the further need of any possible invasive procedure such as colonoscopy or imaging studies. The main objective of this observational study was to diagnose new IBD in mildly raised FC value (60ug/g-300ug/g). This study was done in a district-level hospital in the UK. During the study, we noticed that a large number of patients had numerous investigations including colonoscopy and MRI imaging, and only one patient was diagnosed with new IBD in mildly elevated FC. These findings were presented at gastroenterology audit meeting held at our hospital. For further improvement of clinical practice and to reduce number of invasive investigation, below recommendation can be followed.