Lancet Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2020 Apr 16;5(6):598-606.doi: 10.1016/S2468-1253(20)30119-9. Online ahead of print.

Marietta Iacucci ¹, Rosanna Cannatelli ², Nunzia Labarile ³, Ren Mao ⁴, Remo Panaccione ⁵, Silvio Danese ⁶, Gursimran S Kochhar ⁷, Subrata Ghosh ⁸, Bo Shen ⁹

Author information

¹Institute of Translational of Medicine, Institute of immunology and immunotherapy and NIHR Biomedical Research Centre, University of Birmingham and University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, UK; Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.

²Institute of Translational of Medicine, Institute of immunology and immunotherapy and NIHR Biomedical Research Centre, University of Birmingham and University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, UK; Department of Gastroenterology, Spedali Civili of Brescia, Italy.

³Institute of Translational of Medicine, Institute of immunology and immunotherapy and NIHR Biomedical Research Centre, University of Birmingham and University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, UK; Section of Gastroenterology, Department of Emergency and Organ Transplantation, University of Bari, Italy.

⁴Department of Gastroenterology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China; Department of Inflammation and Immunity, Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland Clinic, OH, USA.

⁵Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.

⁶IBD Center, Department of Gastroenterology, Humanitas Clinical and Research Center, Rozzano, Milan, Italy.

⁷Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition, Allegheny Health Network, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.

⁸Institute of Translational of Medicine, Institute of immunology and immunotherapy and NIHR Biomedical Research Centre, University of Birmingham and University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, UK; Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada. Electronic address: ghoshs@bham.ac.uk.

⁹Center for Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Columbia University Irving Medical Center/New York-Presbyterian Hospital, New York, NY, USA.

Abstract

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is changing the management of many chronic diseases, including that of patients with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). In particular, the performance of routine endoscopy is temporarily suspended, and only emergency endoscopy is allowed in many countries where severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has spread. We highlight different scenarios in which endoscopy should still be performed urgently in patients with IBD, as well as recommendations regarding the use of personal protective equipment. We suggest a pathway for performing safe endoscopy and discuss the potential risks of postponing endoscopy in IBD. Finally, we propose a post-pandemic plan for access to endoscopy.