Abstract

PALMELA, Carolina; TORRES, Joana  and  CRAVO, Marilia. New Trends in Inflammatory Bowel Disease. GE Port J Gastroenterol [online]. 2015, vol.22, n.3, pp.103-111. ISSN 2341-4545.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpge.2015.03.009.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic idiopathic inflammatory disease of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. In the past decade a shift in the treatment paradigm of IBD has ensued. The availability of drugs capable of inducing mucosal healing, combined with the recognition that IBD is not an intermittent disease, but rather a progressive one causing bowel damage and disability, led us to a more stringent strategy. Tailored therapy with more aggressive treatment in high-risk patients, treating beyond symptoms, intervening early before damage occurs, optimizing therapeutic regimens, and actively pursuing sustained remission and sustained control of inflammation are strategies that are slowly being incorporated in our clinical practice. Furthermore, new drugs targeting different immunological pathways, such a s vedolizumab, have recently been approved and therefore more therapeutic resources for patients failing anti-tumour necrosis factor alpha (anti-TNFa) agents will be available. The future years look promising for IBD. Hopefully the new trends in IBD  management, combined with new drugs, will make possible to change the course of disease and provide better therapy and quality of life for patients suffering from this disabling disease.

Keywords : Antibodies; Monoclonal; Colitis; Ulcerative; Crohn Disease; Inflammatory Bowel Diseases; Molecular Targeted Therapy; Drug Monitoring.

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