Inflammatory Bowel Disease: Diagnosis and Treatment

A clinical reference on the medical and surgical management of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in all age groups. Edited by a well known authority in the field and written by a group of 59 contributors from around the world, "Inflammatory Bowel Disease" is a major reference on this topic. Gastroenterologists, surgeons, internists, and family practitioners should be interested in this volume of the latest information on treatment and diagnosis as well as on the major new areas of research in the field. With this book physicians can explore the clinical challenges that now exist in the management of IBD. Few areas of medicine have seen the rapid and radical changes in management that have occurred in Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. In this monograph, physicians will find a presentation of the basic clinical problems of assessment of the advances made in unravelling the mysteries of these diseases. The etiology of IBD is dealth with in full, including the current findings on the role of viruses, chemicals, toxins, autoimmune mechanisms, and other potential causative factors in IBD. Treatment of IBD is fully covered with chapters on recent concepts of pharmacology on the actions of a series of new drugs, and on the new therapeutic modalities in the management of the complications of these diseases. The book is divided into seven parts, each part dealing with the most current work in the field and presenting the best information on these chronic, debilitating diseases. In each of these parts, the understanding of these diseases is advanced. Current clinical issues are examined and the challenges that now face physicians in the management of IBD can be explored with the guidance of the top international authorities. The basis for future studies and the basic controversies to be resolved are presented and take the physician to the leading edge of knowledge of inflammatory bowel disease.

Table of Contents:
Part 1 Etiology and epidemiology: approaches to management; historical considerations; epidemiology; etiology - where have we been? where are we going?; mediators of inflammation and pathogenesis; immunopathogenesis; genetics. Part 2 Clinical features: ulcerative colitis; Crohn's Disease; clinical assessment; clinical patterns - a physician's guide. Part 3 Diagnosis: ulcerative colitis; Crohn's Disease. Part 4 Prognosis: the "Natural" course of Inflammatory Bowel Disease; predicting outcome; Inflammatory Bowel Disease in childhood and adolescence. Part 5 Medical management: diet, nutrition, and oral and parenteral therapy; sulfasalazine; salicylates; corticosteroid therapy; 6-mercaptopurine and azathioprine; metronidazole in Crohn's Disease; cyclosporin A in Inflammatory Bowel Disease; T-lymphocyte apheresis; antimicrobials; intensive treatment; the physician-patient relationship. Part 6 Surgical management: general surgical considerations; rectum-sparing operations; management of postsurgical problems. Part 7 Problems in management: fistulas and perineal disease; toxic dilatation; obstruction; cancer and dysplasia; pregnancy; extraintestinal manifestations.