Efficacy and long-term safety data of novel drugs, thiopurine withdrawal, and the effect of high-dose opioid use on outcomes are among the key takeaways in ulcerative colitis from Digestive Disease Week (DDW) 2023, as reported by Dr Joseph Feuerstein, from Harvard Medical School, in Boston, Massachusetts.
Dr Feuerstein starts with the QUASAR study of the IL-13 inhibitor guselkumab, which showed that the drug was associated with significantly improved clinical remission over placebo.
Next, an open-label extension of the True North study demonstrated that the oral S1P receptor modulator ozanimod proved to be safe over a 3-year follow-up period. Another trial examining safety found that withdrawal from thiopurine and vedolizumab combination therapy may not be a viable strategy.
Dr Feuerstein then turns to a retrospective analysis of older patients who underwent segmental colectomy in which the procedure was associated with low rates of complications and postoperative flares.
Finally, another retrospective study suggested that, contrary to expectations, high-dose opioid use does not appear to worsen clinical outcomes in acute severe ulcerative colitis.
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Joseph D. Feuerstein, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine, Department of Gastroenterology, Harvard Medical School; Attending in Gastroenterology, Center for Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts
Joseph D. Feuerstein, MD, has disclosed no relevant financial relationships.
Digestive Disease Week® was sponsored by the American Gastroenterological Association, the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, and the Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract.
