Practice Parameters Committee Research Articles

Updated Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease

Guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) were published in 1995 and updated in 1999. These and other guidelines undergo periodic review. Advances continue to be made in the area of GERD, leading us to review and revise previous guideline statements. GERD is defined as symptoms or mucosal damage produced by the abnormal reflux of gastric contents into the esophagus. These guidelines were developed under the auspices of the American College of Gastroenterology and its Practice Parameters Committee, and approved by the Board of Trustees. Diagnostic guidelines address empiric therapy and the use of endoscopy, ambulatory reflux monitoring, and esophageal manometry in GERD. Treatment guidelines address the role of lifestyle changes, patient directed (OTC) therapy, acid suppression, promotility therapy, maintenance therapy, antireflux surgery, and endoscopic therapy in GERD. Finally, there is a discussion of the rare patient with refractory GERD and a list of areas in need of additional study.

Clostridium difficile

Clostridium difficile

Effect of antibiotics, prebiotics and probiotics in treatment for hepatic encephalopathy

In order to reduce ammonia production by urease-positive bacteria Solga recently hypothesised (S.F. Solga, Probiotics can treat hepatic encephalopathy, Medical Hypotheses 2003; 61: 307-13), that probiotics are new therapeutics for hepatic encephalopathy (HE), and that they may replace antibiotics and lactulose. This influenced our view of the effect of antibiotics, prebiotics, e.g., lactulose, and probiotics on intestinal bacteria in the treatment of HE. Intestinal ammonia arises from aminoacids after bacterial de-amination and not from urea making urease-positive bacteria irrelevant. Antibiotics are not preferred in the treatment of HE, since ammonia-producing antibiotic-resistant bacteria may survive and replace ammonia-producing antibiotic-susceptible bacteria. Intestinal prebiotics are carbohydrate-like compounds, such as lactulose and resistant starch, that beneficially affects host's health in a different manner than normal food. In the small bowel prebiotics are not absorbed and digested, but are fermented in the colon by colonic bacteria. Fermentation of prebiotics yields lactic, acetic and butyric acids, as well as gas especially hydrogen (H2). The massive H2 volumes cause rapid intestinal hurry and thus massive amounts of colonic bacteria, not only urease-positive bacteria, but also deaminating bacteria, are removed and intestinal uptake of toxic bacterial metabolites, e.g., ammonia, reduced. As living non-pathogenic micro-organisms, probiotics beneficially affect the host's health by fermenting non-absorbed sugars, especially in the small bowel. Thus, they reduce the substrate of the other bacteria, and simultaneously they create a surplus of fermentation products which may affect the non-probiotic flora. Regarding the fermentation products (lactic acid, ethanol, acetic acid and CO2) five groups of probiotic micro-organisms are known. It is argued that probiotic, CO2-producing (facultatively) heterolactic lactobacilli, i.e., lactobacilli, that produce both lactic acid and CO2 from sugars, such as glucose, are preferred in the treatment of HE. Our ideas concur with the practice guidelines regarding HE as formulated by Blei, Cordoba and the Practice Parameters Committee of the American College of Gastroenterology, and does not alter the final conclusion of Solga as regards the beneficial use in future treatment of HE.

Ultrathin crossroads: Is smaller better?

Ultrathin crossroads: Is smaller better?

Management of primary sclerosing cholangitis.

Guidelines for clinical practice are intended to indicate preferred approaches to medical problems as established by scientifically valid research. Double blind, placebo-controlled studies are preferable, but reports and expert review articles are also utilized in a thorough review of the literature conducted through the National Library of Medicine's MEDLINE. When only data that will not withstand objective scrutiny are available, a recommendation is identified as a consensus of experts. Guidelines are applicable to all physicians who address the subject, without regard to specialty training or interests, and are intended to indicate the preferable but not necessarily the only acceptable approach to a specific problem. Guidelines are intended to be flexible and must be distinguished from standards of care that are inflexible and rarely violated. Given the wide range of specifics in any health care problem, the physician must always choose the course best suited to the individual patient and the variables in existence at the moment of decision. Guidelines are developed under the auspices of the American College of Gastroenterology and its Practice Parameters Committee and approved by the Board of Trustees. Each has been intensely reviewed and revised by the Committee, other experts in the field, physicians who will use them, and specialists in the science of decision of analysis. The recommendations of each guideline are therefore considered valid at the time of their production based on the data available. New developments in medical research and practice pertinent to each guideline will be reviewed at an established time and indicated at publication to assure continued validity.

A guideline for the treatment and prevention of nsaid-induced ulcers

Guidelines for clinical practice are intended to indicate preferred approaches to medical problems as established by scientifically valid research. Double-blind, placebo-controlled studies are preferable, but compassionate use reports and expert review articles are used in a thorough review of the literature conducted through Medline with the National Library of Medicine. When only data that will not withstand objective scrutiny are available, a recommendation is identified as a consensus of experts. Guidelines are applicable to all physicians who address the subject without regard to specialty training or interests and are intended to indicate the preferable, but not necessarily the only, acceptable approach to a specific problem. Guidelines are intended to be flexible and must be distinguished from standards of care, which are inflexible and rarely violated. Given the wide range of specifics in any health care problem, the physician must always choose the course best suited to the individual patient and the variables in existence at the moment of decision. Guidelines are developed under the auspices of the American College of Gastroenterology and its Practice Parameters Committee and approved by the Board of Trustees. Each has been intensely reviewed and revised by the Committee, other experts in the field, physicians who will use them, and specialists in the science of decision analysis. The recommendations of each guideline are therefore considered valid at the time of their production based on the data available. New developments in medical research and practice pertinent to each guideline will be reviewed at a time established and indicated at publication to assure continued validity. INTRODUCTION

Management of the adult patient with acute lower gastrointestinal bleeding

Guidelines for clinical practice are intended to suggest preferable approaches to particular medical problems as established by interpretation and collation of scientifically valid research, derived from extensive review of published literature. When data are not available that will withstand objective scrutiny, a recommendation may be made based on a consensus of experts. Guidelines are intended to apply to the clinical situation for all physicians without regard to specialty. Guidelines are intended to be flexible, not necessarily indicating the only acceptable approach, and should be distinguished from standards of care that are inflexible and rarely violated. Given the wide range of choices in any health care problem, the physician should select the course best suited to the individual patient and the clinical situation presented. These guidelines are developed under the auspices of the American College of Gastroenterology and its Practice Parameters Committee. These guidelines are also approved by the governing boards of the American Gastroenterological Association and the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy. Expert opinion is solicited from the outset for the document. Guidelines are reviewed in depth by the Committee, with participation from experienced clinicians and others in related fields. The final recommendations are based on the data available at the time of the production of the document and may be updated with pertinent scientific developments at a later time.

Medical Treatment of Peptic Ulcer Disease

Objective. —To integrate the realization that peptic ulcer most commonly reflects infection with Helicobacter pylori or use of aspirin and other nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) into a disease management approach. Participants. —Guidelines were outlined by the author and presented for review to the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG) Practice Parameters Committee, selected by the president of the ACG, and a panel of experts in peptic ulcer, selected by the committee. Evidence and Consensus Process. —These guidelines were formulated following extensive review of the literature obtained by a MEDLINE search and presented for detailed review and revision to unpublicized committee meetings on three occasions and to experts by mail. These recommendations are an official statement of the ACG and have been approved by the American Gastroenterological Association and the American Society for Gastroenterological Endoscopy. Firm recommendations are discriminated from reasonable suppositions pending definitive data. Conclusions. —Since cure of H pylori infection decreases recurrence rates and facilitates healing, antibiotic therapy is indicated for all H pylori —infected ulcer patients. No optimal, simple antibiotic regimen has yet emerged. Simultaneous conventional ulcer therapy is recommended to facilitate symptom relief and healing. For refractory ulcers, only maximal acid inhibition offers advantage over continued conventional therapy; cure of H pylori infection is likely to facilitate healing of refractory ulcers. Only with complicated or refractory ulcers should conventional maintenance therapy be continued, at least until successful H pylori eradication is confirmed. A search for NSAID use is indicated for all ulcer patients. For NSAIDassociated ulcers these drugs should be discontinued if possible and H pylori , if present, should be cured. ( JAMA . 1996;275:622-629)

Guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of gastroesophageal reflux disease. Practice Parameters Committee of the American College of Gastroenterology

Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is a common disorder that affects all segments of the population. These guidelines have been prepared to suggest the preferable, but not only, approaches to the management of a patient with GERD. The physician must be free to choose the course best suited to the individual patient. The world literature was reviewed and the guidelines were developed under the auspices of the American College of Gastroenterology, and approved by other gastroenterology societies. Diagnostic recommendations include the following: (1) general approach to GERD, including empiric therapy, (2) appropriate mucosal evaluation (ie, endoscopy and radiology), (3) use of pH and provocative testing, and (4) indications for manometric evaluation. Therapeutic recommendations include the following: (1) general approach to therapy including lifestyle changes, (2) use of acid suppression, (3) use of promotility drugs, (4) maintenance treatment of GERD, and (5) indications for antireflux surgery.