Intestinal Research

Original Articles

Integrating perspectives on transabdominal intestinal ultrasound in inflammatory bowel disease management: a nationwide cross-sectional survey of physicians and patients in China: Longxi Yun, Zhaojue Wang, Yujun Chen, Ning Chen, Yan Chen, Xiaoqi Zhang, Xiaoyan Xie, Ren Mao, Yue Li, Qingli Zhu, Minhu Chen, China IUS Group; Received May 8, 2025 Accepted August 21, 2025 Published online January 2, 2026; DOI: https://doi.org/10.5217/ir.2025.00074 [Epub ahead of print]

Abstract PDF: Background/Aims
The awareness, accessibility, and utilization of transabdominal intestinal ultrasound (IUS) in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) management from both physicians’ and patients’ perspectives remains unclear in China. This nationwide cross-sectional survey aimed to gauge the current utilization of IUS, physician and patient perceptions and knowledge gap in IBD management across China.
Methods
A structured questionnaire, developed by the China IUS Group, was distributed to 612 physicians (69.8% of gastroenterologists, 28.0% of radiologists) from 38 tertiary hospitals and 1,154 IBD patients. Results: A total of 91.7% of physicians expressed an intention to incorporate IUS into future clinical practice. However, while 69.3% of physicians reported IUS availability at their institutions, its utilization varied widely. Only 16.5% of physicians applied IUS to more than 75% of their IBD patients. Additionally, 27.1% of physicians reported receiving IUS training. Radiologists were more likely than gastroenterologists to consider IUS as a sensitive tool for evaluating treatment efficacy (48.3% vs. 19.4%, P< 0.001), intestinal wall fibrosis (33.7% vs. 27.4%, P< 0.001), intestinal fistula (27.9% vs. 11.2%, P< 0.001), abdominal abscesses (49.4% vs. 28.6%, P< 0.001), and disease severity (30.2% vs. 11.0%, P< 0.001). Patients expressed high satisfaction with IUS (76.1%), yet 39.2% had safety concerns.
Conclusions
Despite growing recognition of IUS in China, its wide utilization in IBD management requires further promotion. The notable disparity between gastroenterologists and radiologists regarding IUS underscores the need for targeted, specialty-specific training. Strengthening patient education efforts is essential to further enhance patient acceptance of IUS.

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IBD

Upadacitinib induction is effective and safe in ulcerative colitis patients including those with prior exposure to tofacitinib: a multicenter real-world cohort study: Robert Gilmore, Richard Fernandes, Imogen Hartley, Arteen Arzivian, Rupert Leong, Bridgette Andrew, Abhinav Vasudevan, Tessa Greeve, Gregory Thomas Moore, Steven Kim, Daniel Lightowler, Abhey Singh, Gillian Mahy, Aditya Mithanthaya, Kannan Venugopaul, Sangwoo Han, Robert Bryant, Jack West, Jonathan Segal, Britt Christensen, Crispin Corte, Nik Ding, Yoon-Kyo An, Jakob Begun; Intest Res 2025;23(3):347-357. Published online December 20, 2024; DOI: https://doi.org/10.5217/ir.2024.00127

Abstract PDF PubReader ePub

Background/Aims
Upadacitinib is a novel selective Janus kinase inhibitor approved for use in ulcerative colitis. Clinical trials had rigorous criteria and excluded many patient subgroups. Given limited real-world effectiveness data, we examined outcomes of patients treated with upadacitinib for ulcerative colitis in a real-world population.
Methods
Patients that commenced upadacitinib for moderate-to-severe ulcerative colitis from September 2022 until March 2023 were identified at 13 inflammatory bowel disease centers across Australia. Clinical, biochemical, endoscopic, and intestinal ultrasound outcomes were recorded retrospectively at baseline, week 8, and week 16.
Results
One hundred and fifty-two patients (61 female [40%], median age 38 years [interquartile range, 28–50]) were included. The primary endpoint of clinical remission was met in 79% at week 8, and 84% at week 16. A total of 42 patients (28%) with prior tofacitinib exposure were included. No significant difference in clinical remission was observed by week 16 between tofacitinib experienced compared to tofacitinib naïve patients (86% vs. 84%, P= 0.67). Complete intestinal ultrasound data was available for 36 patients, showing transmural remission in 64% at week 8 and 81% at week 16, with a decrease in median bowel wall thickness of 2.3 mm and 2.4 mm, respectively.
Conclusions
Upadacitinib resulted in high rates of clinical remission at 8 and 16 weeks in this large real-world cohort of ulcerative colitis patients. Upadacitinib is effective in patients with prior tofacitinib exposure. Intestinal ultrasound shows significant rates of transmural remission at week 8, sustained through week 16.

Citations

Citations to this article as recorded by

Letter: Toward Intra‐Class Switching With JAK Inhibitors?
Mathieu Uzzan, David Laharie
Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics.2025; 61(5): 919. CrossRef
Effectiveness and Safety of a Second JAK Inhibitor in Ulcerative Colitis: The J2J Multicentre Study
Mathilde Osty, Romain Altwegg, Mélanie Serrero, Alban Benezech, Albane Lecomte, Guillaume Cadiot, Lucine Vuitton, Anne Wampach, Stéphane Nancey, Anthony Buisson, Catherine le Berre, Clea Rouillon, Cyrielle Gilletta, Felix Goutorbe, Mathurin Fumery, Nassim
Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics.2025; 62(4): 430. CrossRef
Upadacitinib and vedolizumab combination therapy for the management of refractory ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease
Robert Gilmore, Amrutha Murali, Amirah Etchegaray, Ei Swe, Yoon-Kyo An, Jakob Begun
Intestinal Research.2025; 23(4): 475. CrossRef
Upadacitinib after tofacitinib in ulcerative colitis
Hyeon Jin Cho, Eun Soo Kim
Intestinal Research.2025; 23(3): 229. CrossRef
A Comparison of the Efficacy and Safety of Ustekinumab and Upadacitinib in Biologically Experienced Ulcerative Colitis Patients
Osman Özdoğan, Serkan Yaraş, Mehmet Kasım Aydın, Fehmi Ateş, Engin Altıntaş, Orhan Sezgin
Biomedicines.2025; 13(10): 2455. CrossRef
Is 2nd JAKi treatment for UC worth the effort? A retrospective, multi-centre UK study
Chandni Radia, Yaa Danso, Susan Ritchie, Melissa Hale, Alexander T Elford, Chirag Patel, Lucy Hicks, Sonia Kalyanji, Chaonan Dong, Katie Yeung, Jie Han Yeo, Mohammed Allah-Ditta, Maria Bishara, Karishma Sethi-Arora, Lushen Pillay, Emma L Johnston, Ruth Ru
Journal of Crohn's and Colitis.2025;[Epub] CrossRef
IBD 2024: Charting a New Course in IBD Proceedings of the Takeda Symposium 22–23 November 2024 W Hotel, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Uma Mahadevan, Vipul Jairath, Jakob Begun, Aviv Pudipeddi, Mayur Garg, Peter De Cruz, Christopher F. D. Li Wai Suen, Matthew C. Choy, Danny Con, Rose Vaughan, John D. Chetwood, David A. Clark, Craig Haifer, Miles P. Sparrow, Rupert Leong, Réme Mountifield
Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology.2025; 40(S3): 3. CrossRef
Three Janus kinase inhibitors in ulcerative colitis: is upadacitinib taking the lead?
Yoon Suk Jung
Intestinal Research.2025; 23(4): 394. CrossRef
Upadacitinib’s Effectiveness and Safety as a Second- or Third-Line Therapy in Patients with Ulcerative Colitis: Data from a Real-World Study
Giammarco Mocci, Antonio Tursi, Franco Scaldaferri, Daniele Napolitano, Daniela Pugliese, Giovanni Maconi, Giovanni Cataletti, Roberta Pica, Claudio Cassieri, Edoardo Vincenzo Savarino, Caterina De Barba, Francesco Costa, Linda Ceccarelli, Manuela Marzo,
Journal of Clinical Medicine.2025; 14(21): 7801. CrossRef
Optimizing Janus kinase inhibitor therapy for ulcerative colitis: a real-world perspective
Shintaro Akiyama
Intestinal Research.2025;[Epub] CrossRef
Janus Kinase Inhibitors for Inflammatory Bowel Disease: Concise Questions and Answers on Their Use in Clinical Practice
Javier P Gisbert, María Chaparro
Inflammatory Bowel Diseases.2025;[Epub] CrossRef

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Review

IBD

First aid with color atlas for the use of intestinal ultrasound for inflammatory bowel disease in daily clinical practice: Jun Miyoshi, Hiromu Morikubo, Hiromi Yonezawa, Hideaki Mori, Tadakazu Hisamatsu; Intest Res 2023;21(2):177-188. Published online April 28, 2023; DOI: https://doi.org/10.5217/ir.2023.00003

Abstract PDF PubReader ePub

Intestinal ultrasound (IUS) is a promising modality for the management of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and has the potential to particularly contribute in monitoring disease activity, an advantage crucial for optimizing the therapeutic strategy. While many IBD physicians appreciate and are interested in the use of IUS for IBD, currently only a limited number of facilities can employ this examination in daily clinical practice. A lack of guidance is one of the major barriers to introducing this procedure. Standardized protocols and assessment criteria are needed such that IUS for IBD can be considered a feasible, reliable examination in clinical practice, and multicenter clinical studies can be conducted for further clinical evidence of the application of IUS in IBD for best patient care. In this article, we provide an overview of how to start IUS for IBD and introduce basic procedures. Furthermore, IUS images from our practice are provided as a color atlas for understanding sonographic findings and scoring systems. We anticipate this “first aid” article will be helpful to promote IUS for IBD in daily practice.

Citations

Citations to this article as recorded by

Recent Advances in Molecular Targeted Therapy for Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Tadakazu Hisamatsu, Jun Miyoshi, Minoru Matsuura
Internal Medicine.2026; 65(2): 196. CrossRef
Determination of optimal cutoff value of ulcerative colitis intestinal ultrasound index to estimate endoscopic improvement in ulcerative colitis
Haruka Komatsu, Hiromu Morikubo, Yoko Kimura, Chihiro Moue, Hiromi Yonezawa, Minoru Matsuura, Jun Miyoshi, Tadakazu Hisamatsu
Journal of Gastroenterology.2025; 60(2): 166. CrossRef
Bildgebung bei chronisch-entzündlichen Darmerkrankungen
Christoph F. Dietrich, Kathleen Möller
Die Innere Medizin.2025; 66(1): 40. CrossRef
Upadacitinib after tofacitinib in ulcerative colitis
Hyeon Jin Cho, Eun Soo Kim
Intestinal Research.2025; 23(3): 229. CrossRef
Intestinal Ultrasound in Clinical Inflammatory Bowel Disease Care: From Diagnosis to Tight Monitoring
Kwang Woo Kim
Clinical Ultrasound.2025; 10(2): 75. CrossRef
A combination of bowel wall thickness and submucosa index is useful for estimating endoscopic improvement in ulcerative colitis: external validation of the Kyorin Ultrasound Criterion
Haruka Komatsu, Hiromu Morikubo, Yoko Kimura, Chihiro Moue, Hiromi Yonezawa, Minoru Matsuura, Jun Miyoshi, Tadakazu Hisamatsu
Journal of Gastroenterology.2024; 59(3): 209. CrossRef
Early Sonographic Improvement Predicts Clinical Remission and Mucosal Healing With Molecular-Targeted Drugs in Ulcerative Colitis
Yoko Kimura, Jun Miyoshi, Hiromu Morikubo, Haruka Komatsu, Chihiro Moue, Hiromi Yonezawa, Minoru Matsuura, Tadakazu Hisamatsu
Gastro Hep Advances.2024; 3(6): 703. CrossRef
IBD barriers across the continents – East Asia
Joyce Wing Yan Mak, Agnes Hiu Yan Ho, Siew Chien Ng
Therapeutic Advances in Gastroenterology.2023;[Epub] CrossRef

9,672 View
482 Download
7 Web of Science
8 Crossref

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