N07 Current practices of Ultrasound for assessment of Crohn’s Disease in the UK
RadfordBSc- MSc- PGCert- PhD student, S.(1);Moran, G.(1);
(1)Nottingham NIHR Biomedical Research Centre, Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Nottingham, United Kingdom; Nottingham NIHR Biomedical Research Centre
Background
Data from the METRIC trial (PMID:29914843) has shown that small bowel ultrasound (US) has very good diagnostic accuracy for disease extent, presence and activity in Crohn’s Disease (CD), is well tolerated by patients and is cheaper when compared to MRI. However, Uptake of US in the UK is limited
Methods
We designed and conducted an online survey to assess the current usage of US throughout the UK. The survey was undertaken by BSG IBD group members between 9 June 2021 - 25 June 2021. Responses were anonymous, respondents were able to skip questions.
Results
103 responses were included in the data analysis Responses came from 14 different regions of the UK, from 66 individual NHS trusts. 99.03% (n=103) respondents reported that they currently have an MRI service for Crohn’s disease, where only 30.1% (31) had access to US service. Numbers of MRIs per month was reported as an average of 15.14, with a range of 3-75. The average number of US undertaken was reported as 7.67 per month, with a range of 0-50. Average time for results to be reported for MRI scans was reported as between 4-6 weeks, with a range of 2 days to 28 weeks. The average time for an US to be reported was stated as 1-4 weeks, with a range of 0-8 weeks. 48.51% of respondents reported that they were ‘very confident’ when using MRI data to make clinical decisions. 25.24% were ‘extremely confident’, 22.33% were somewhat confident and 2.91% were not so confident. 11% of respondents stated they would be extremely confident in using US to make clinical decisions, 22% stated they would be very confident, 27% somewhat confident, 20% not so confident and 20% not at all confident. Of those respondents who did not have access to an US service, 92.31% (72) stated that they would be interested in developing an US service.
Conclusion
There is an appetite for the uptake of US in the UK for assessment of CD, however there remains a significant number of UK centres with little or no access to an US service. There is a difference in the levels of confidence that clinicians have in using US as a diagnostic tool in the UK. Further research is necessary to understand why this is the case. Results from this survey will go on to inform our future work in developing an implementation package for US in the UK in the NHS.