Healthcare professionals should stay updated on IBD: Dr Nageshwar Reddy

HYDERABAD: The three-day international conference on inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), organised by AIG Hospitals, which saw the participation of 1,500 delegates from over 10 countries, concluded here on Sunday.

The AIG IBD Summit 2023 has emerged as the biggest conference on the subject in South Asia given the presence of internationally acclaimed physicians, gastroenterologists and surgeons.

The summit largely focussed on the latest diagnostic and treatment approaches that are being practised globally on the IBD, which has been on an exponential increase in India and other south-Asian countries for over a decade now.

“Having started in 2012 with a closed group of gastroenterologists coming together, the AIG IBD Summit has grown to become one of the largest IBD conferences in the world. It is of extreme importance for healthcare professionals to get themselves updated on IBD because the disease and its treatment are still evolving,” Dr D. Nageshwar Reddy, chairman and chief of gastroenterology, at AIG Hospitals, said.

“Through these conferences and subsequent research collaboration with doctors across South Asia, we have clearly proved that IBD as a disease is clearly different in our population than in the West. Therefore, it is essential to collaborate and learn from each other to come up with our population-centric diagnosis and treatment plans,” Dr Nageshwar Reddy said.

The diagnosis of IBD remains a challenge for most of the centres because of a lack of appropriate training and infrastructure leading to worrisome misdiagnosis, especially in the form of tuberculosis (TB). The symptoms of IBD include persistent fever, bloody diarrhoea, weight loss, abdominal pain, anaemia and weakness, among others.

A combination of blood investigation, radiology investigation and endoscopy is required to diagnose IBD properly.

The AIG IBD Summit 2023 featured 15 top faculty members from all over the world along with more than 300 from India. Several new guidelines and treatment protocols were proposed during the deliberations. These will significantly help in reducing mortality and morbidity among IBD patients.

AIG IBD Manual, a comprehensive book covering all aspects of IBD care from diagnosis to treatment and maintenance, was launched to commemorate the conclusion of the summit.