Joana Torres © ECCO

This year, during the 14^th Congress of ECCO in Copenhagen, the first Guidelines and GRADE Methodology Workshop took place, organised by GuiCom (Guidelines Committee of ECCO). The GRADE (Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluations) methodology represents a systematic approach to making judgements about quality of evidence and strength of recommendations. It has been developed by the GRADE Working Group and is now widely seen as the most effective method of linking evidence-quality evaluations to clinical recommendations. For a year now, several ECCO Members have been working using this methodology to develop the new Crohn’s Disease guidelines. 

Tim Raine © ECCO

The generation of expert guidelines to assist and guide management decisions for patients living with IBD lies at the heart of the mission of ECCO. This makes GuiCom a very busy Committee within ECCO. Additionally, as many will be aware, GuiCom has moved towards using the GRADE methodology for future guidelines projects wherever appropriate. Whilst this will undoubtedly improve the quality and accountability of our guidelines, it is clear that the introduction of GRADE methodology comes at a cost in terms of the significant extra effort that will be demanded of all guideline participants and committee members.  

Tim Raine © ECCO

The upcoming ECCO Congress will see a new addition to the line-up of workshops offered. Under the supervision of the Guidelines Committee (GuiCom), we are running a workshop specifically designed to offer ECCO Members the opportunity to increase their awareness and knowledge of the GRADE clinical guideline development methodology.

Christian Maaser © ECCO

The downside of ECCO´s clear and strict rules regarding terms of committee membership is that we regularly have to say goodbye to very dear colleagues who have done a tremendous amount of work during their term and have been very reliable colleagues and become good friends. Now, it is necessary to say “goodbye and thank you” to Gionata Fiorino, who invested an enormous amount of time in GuiCom projects during his 4-year GuiCom term. 

Joana Torres © ECCO

Inflammatory Bowel Disease is a chronic disease in which both medical and psychological factors have a major impact on several domains of the patient’s quality of life. Patients with IBD report higher levels of psychological and emotional distress, fatigue, anxiety, centrally mediated abdominal pain, depression and sleep disturbance. These complex complaints require integrative and appropriate management. Psychotherapies and body-mind interventions may have a beneficial impact on coping skills and stress management, but their efficacy and best use remain matters of debate. 

Christian Maaser  ©  ECCO

GuiCom, together with various ECCO Members, is constantly working to bring the ECCO Guidelines up to date, thereby helping IBD physicians to treat their patients. The most recent project, the Diagnostic IBD Guideline, will set out what to do for the following purposes: initial diagnosis, evaluation of treatment response, assessment of the asymptomatic patient, clarification of postoperative situations and investigation of suspected complications. In addition, one chapter will deal with the various scoring systems and another with the technical details of the different methods.