Intestinal ultrasound in Crohn’s disease: A systematic review of its role in diagnosis, monitoring, and treatment response

Table 13 Summary of studies evaluating role of intestinal ultrasound in post-operative Crohn’s disease

Ref.	Study type	Follow up	Number of patients	Results
Maconi et al[168], 2001	Prospective	6 months	85 CD	BWT after surgery was unchanged or worsened in 43.3% of patients. Patients with unchanged/worsened BWT had a higher risk of clinical and surgical recurrence compared with those with normalized/improved BWT
Parente et al[167], 2004	Prospective	41 months (median)	127 CD	BWT > 6 mm at 12 months after surgery was associated with a six-fold higher hazard of CD recurrence
Paredes et al[45], 2013	Prospective	Within 3 days of colonoscopy	60 CD	Sonographic Score 2 (BWT > 5 mm or contrast enhancement > 46%) showed sensitivity (98%), specificity (100%), and accuracy (98.3%) for detecting endoscopic recurrence. Sonographic Score 3 was effective in identifying severe recurrence
Cammarota et al[169], 2013	Retrospective	12 months (mean)	196 ileal/ileocolonic CD	Incremental risk of re-operation with increasing BWT: 13% with 3 mm, 40% with > 6 mm
Carmona et al[170], 2021	Retrospective	-	31 CD	Significant association between endoscopic recurrence and BWT/colour Doppler signal intensity. BWT > 3.4 mm had sensitivity (100%) and specificity (86%)
Macedo et al[172], 2022	Cross-sectional	14 months	39 CD	Diagnostic accuracy of IUS was superior to CRP, fecal calprotectin, and clinical parameters
Furfaro et al[5], 2023	Prospective	3 months	91 CD	BWT ≥ 3 mm plus FCP > 50 μg/g identified 75% of patients with endoscopic recurrence (false positives 5%). Presence of mesenteric lymph nodes identified 56% of endoscopic recurrence

CD: Crohn’s disease; IUS: Intestinal ultrasound; BWT: Bowel wall thickness; FCP: Faecal calprotectin; CRP: C-reactive protein.