Canadian Journal of Gastroenterology

In 2005, a group of academic gastroenterologists in Calgary (Alberta) adopted a centralized referral intake system known as central triage. This system provided a single point of entry model (SEM) for referrals rather than the traditional system of individual practitioners managing their own referrals and queues. The goal of central triage was to improve wait times and referral management. In 2008, a similar system was developed in Edmonton at the University of Alberta Hospital (Edmonton, Alberta). SEMs have subsequently been adopted by numerous subspecialties throughout Alberta...

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BACKGROUND: Many consider histology to be the gold standard for Helicobacter pylori detection. Because the number and distribution of H pylori organisms vary, particularly in patients taking proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), the American Gastroenterological Association recommends discontinuing PPIs two weeks before endoscopy, and taking biopsies from both the body and antrum. OBJECTIVE: To assess the influence of clinical practice on the histopathological detection of H pylori infection...

UNLABELLED: BACKGROUND⁄ OBJECTIVES: The relationship between the enteroendocrine hormone glucagon-like peptide 2 (GLP-2) and intestinal inflammation is unclear. GLP-2 promotes mucosal growth, decreases permeability and reduces inflammation in the intestine; physiological stimulation of GLP-2 release is triggered by nutrient contact. The authors hypothesized that ileal Crohn disease (CD) affects GLP-2 release. METHODS: With ethics board approval, pediatric patients hospitalized with CD were studied; controls were recruited from local schools...

BACKGROUND: Capnography provides noninvasive monitoring of ventilation and can enable early recognition of altered respiration patterns and apnea. OBJECTIVE: To compare the detection of apnea and the prediction of oxygen desaturation and hypoxemia using capnography versus clinical surveillance during procedural sedation for percutaneous transhepatic cholangiodrainage (PTCD). METHODS: Twenty consecutive patients scheduled for PTCD were included in the study...

BACKGROUND: Depression complicates interferon-based hepatitis C virus (HCV) antiviral therapy in 10% to 40% of cases, and diminishes patient well-being and ability to complete a full course of therapy. As a consequence, the likelihood of achieving a sustained virological response (SVR [ie, permanent viral eradication]) is reduced. OBJECTIVE: To systematically review the evidence of whether pre-emptive antidepressant prophylaxis started before HCV antiviral initiation is beneficial...

Minimal hepatic encephalopathy (MHE) is the earliest form of hepatic encephalopathy and can affect up to 80% of cirrhotic patients. By definition, it has no obvious clinical manifestation and is characterized by neurocognitive impairment in attention, vigilance and integrative function. Although often not considered to be clinically relevant and, therefore, not diagnosed or treated, MHE has been shown to affect daily functioning, quality of life, driving and overall mortality. The diagnosis of MHE has traditionally been achieved through neuropsychological examination, psychometric tests or the newer critical flicker frequency test...

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BACKGROUND: Autoimmune hepatitis has diverse clinical phenotypes and outcomes that challenge current diagnostic criteria and management algorithms. OBJECTIVES: To highlight the major difficulties in diagnosis and management, describe the efforts to ease them and encourage further progress in problem solving. METHODS: The MEDLINE database was reviewed for published experiences from 1984 to 2013. RESULTS: Acute or acute severe (fulminant) hepatitis, asymptomatic mild disease, and histological findings of centrilobular necrosis or bile duct injury can confound diagnosis and treatment...

BACKGROUND: Autoimmune pancreatitis and autoimmune cholangitis are new clinical entities that are now recognized as the pancreatico-biliary manifestations of immunoglobulin (Ig) G4-related disease. OBJECTIVE: To summarize important clinical aspects of IgG4-related pancreatic and biliary diseases, and to review the role of IgG4 in the diagnosis of autoimmune pancreatitis (AIP) and autoimmune cholangitis (AIC). METHODS: A narrative review was performed using the PubMed database and the following keywords: "IgG4", "IgG4 related disease", "autoimmune pancreatitis", "sclerosing cholangitis" and "autoimmune cholangitis"...

BACKGROUND: Wait times are an important measure of health care system effectiveness. There are no studies describing wait times in pediatric gastroenterology for either outpatient visits or endoscopy. Pediatric endoscopy is performed under light sedation or general anesthesia. The latter is hypothesized to be associated with a longer wait time due to practical limits on access to anesthesia in the Canadian health care system. OBJECTIVE: To identify wait time differences according to sedation type and measure adverse clinical outcomes that may arise from increased wait time to endoscopy in pediatric patients...

BACKGROUND: In patients presenting with ascending cholangitis, better outcomes are reported in those undergoing endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) compared with surgical drainage. OBJECTIVE: To identify factors associated with the type of intervention, and to examine temporal trends in the treatment of ascending cholangitis. METHODS: Data were extracted from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample. Patients ≥18 years of age with a diagnosis of cholangitis between 1998 and 2009 were selected...

BACKGROUND: Colonoscopy is currently considered to be the gold standard method for detecting and removing adenomatous polyps. However, tandem colonoscopy studies reveal a pooled polyp miss rate of 22%. OBJECTIVE: A prospective randomized trial was conducted to assess whether alteration of patient position during colonoscopy withdrawal increases the adenoma detection rate (ADR). METHOD: The study group included 120 patients who presented for elective colonoscopic examination...

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Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has profoundly changed and improved the investigation of abdominal and pelvic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in pediatrics. Using an imaging modality without ionizing radiation is of particular advantage because the pediatric IBD population is young and often requires repeat evaluation. MRI of the pelvis has become the imaging gold standard for detecting and monitoring perianal disease while bowel-directed imaging techniques (eg, enterography, enteroclysis and colonography) can accurately evaluate bowel inflammation in IBD...