Ostomy & IBD, plainly
Sourced explainers — slower and cited, not breaking news.
Azathioprine and 6-MP for Ulcerative Colitis: A 2025 Cochrane Review on Long-Term Remission
A 2025 Cochrane systematic review synthesises randomised trial evidence on azathioprine and 6-mercaptopurine for maintaining remission in ulcerative colitis. These widely used medications have decades of clinical history, but patients often have questions about what the evidence actually shows and what routine monitoring involves.
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Sourced explainerWhen One IBD Treatment Is Not Enough: A 2026 Review on Combining Biologics
A systematic review and meta-analysis pooling 52 studies and 2,022 participants found early safety signals for combining two advanced IBD drugs, but the certainty of evidence is rated very low across all analyses.
Acute Severe Ulcerative Colitis: What the 2026 GETECCU Position Statement Means for Patients
A June 2026 position statement from Spain's IBD working group GETECCU sets out the diagnostic criteria and stepwise treatment pathway for acute severe UC: IV steroids first, rescue therapy if steroids fail, colectomy when rescue therapy is not enough. Here is what patients living with ulcerative colitis should know about this rare but serious complication.
Prebiotics for Ulcerative Colitis: A 2024 Cochrane Review Weighs the Evidence
A 2024 Cochrane systematic review pooled nine randomised controlled trials to assess whether prebiotic fibre supplements can help induce or maintain remission in ulcerative colitis. Across all comparisons, the certainty of evidence was rated very low to low, leaving clinical recommendations for or against prebiotics in UC currently out of reach.
Vitamin D and IBD: What a Cochrane Review of 22 Trials Found — and What Remains Uncertain
A 2023 Cochrane systematic review examined 22 randomised controlled trials with 1,874 participants living with IBD. The review found a possible reduction in clinical relapse with vitamin D supplementation — but rates certainty of evidence as low, and cannot yet draw conclusions on quality of life or disease response.
Practical living
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Before Your Stoma Reversal: What a Cochrane Review of 9 Trials Found About Wound Closure and Infection Risk
A 2024 Cochrane systematic review and meta-analysis of nine randomised controlled trials found that purse-string skin closure during stoma reversal cuts the surgical site infection rate to roughly one-fifth of that seen with conventional linear closure — a finding worth discussing with your surgical team.
High-Output Stoma: Five Evidence-Based Strategies and the Electrolyte Risks That Make Prompt Management Essential
A 2026 systematic review of 15 studies maps five categories of intervention for high-output stomas — and names the electrolyte imbalances that, left unmanaged, can lead to kidney injury and preventable readmission.
What the 2026 AGA hemorrhoid update says — and why not every anal symptom is a hemorrhoid
A new American Gastroenterological Association Clinical Practice Update puts fibre, fluids and not straining first for symptomatic hemorrhoids, reserves procedures and surgery for higher grades — and is a reminder that bleeding from the bottom should be checked, not assumed.
Going home within 24 hours after loop ileostomy reversal: what a 2026 systematic review found — and where the data still has gaps
A May 2026 systematic review in the International Journal of Colorectal Disease pooled data from 12 studies covering 30,040 patients and found no statistically significant increase in serious complications for early discharge after loop ileostomy reversal — but the authors urge caution while better-designed trials catch up.
Bowel-wall ultrasound at week 4–8: a 2026 systematic review on whether intestinal ultrasound can flag treatment response in IBD early — and the parts the same review keeps small
A 2026 systematic review and pooled data analysis in the Journal of Crohn's & Colitis brings together 31 studies (18 Crohn's disease, 9 ulcerative colitis, 4 acute severe ulcerative colitis) on intestinal ultrasound as a non-invasive way to predict treatment response. In anti-TNF-treated Crohn's patients, a roughly 23% drop in bowel wall thickness at week 4–8 carried an AUROC of 0.82 for predicting later response — useful, but heterogeneous studies and small UC/ASUC subsets mean this is a research-direction read-out, not a personal decision rule.
AI-guided decisions on a temporary ileostomy in rectal cancer surgery: what a 2026 randomized trial showed — and the caveat its authors put in plain sight
A May 2026 randomized controlled trial in Nature Communications tested a machine-learning tool, RTID, against surgeon discretion to decide whether patients undergoing rectal cancer surgery should also receive a temporary diverting ileostomy. The tool roughly halved the overall stoma rate without an apparent rise in anastomotic leaks — but the same trial was, by the authors' own admission, underpowered to formally prove safety equivalence, and that caveat belongs alongside the headline.
Nutrition
Sourced explainer
What You Drink and IBD Risk: A 2026 Dose-Response Meta-Analysis Advances the Evidence
A 2026 systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis pooled data across multiple studies to map how different beverage types, from coffee and tea to alcohol and sweetened drinks, relate to the risk of developing inflammatory bowel disease.
Which supplements actually have evidence in ulcerative colitis? What a 2026 network meta-analysis found — and what it didn't
People with ulcerative colitis often ask which supplement is worth trying. A 2026 network meta-analysis pooled 24 small trials of 14 different supplements; the headline is more careful than the headlines.
A liquid-only diet for Crohn's: what a 2026 review says about exclusive enteral nutrition in adults
Feeding the gut only formula for a few weeks can calm a Crohn's flare — well established in children. A 2026 review asks how strong the evidence really is in adults, and where the catch is.
Could GLP-1 drugs help with a high-output stoma? What a 2026 review actually found
GLP-1 receptor agonists — the drug class behind weight-loss headlines — are being looked at for high-output stomas. A 2026 scoping review says the early signal is interesting but the evidence is still thin.
Awareness & community
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Perianal Crohn's Disease Over Twenty Years: What Population-Based Data Reveals About Long-Term Risk
A 2026 systematic review and meta-analysis pooled data from population-based cohorts to examine how often perianal complications develop in people with Crohn's disease across a twenty-year follow-up, giving the most rigorous long-term risk picture to date.
Psychological Support for IBD: What a Cochrane Review of 68 Studies Shows About Therapy, Education, and Relaxation
A 2025 Cochrane systematic review and meta-analysis of 68 randomised trials found that psychotherapy, patient education, and relaxation techniques each produce small but meaningful improvements in quality of life, depression, and anxiety for adults living with inflammatory bowel disease.
Does cannabis help inflammatory bowel disease? What a June 2026 systematic review of THC actually found
Cannabis is one of the most widely used self-treatments among people with IBD, but a new systematic review built to Cochrane standards found that THC-containing cannabis showed no effect on remission or endoscopic healing — only low-certainty signals for bloating and appetite — and concluded that the overall evidence remains inconclusive.
Life after pelvic exenteration: what a 2026 systematic review of 23 studies says about quality of life, body image, and living with a stoma
Pelvic exenteration is one of the most radical operations in gynaecological cancer care, and it usually leaves a person with one or two stomas. A 2026 systematic review brought together 23 studies (1,655 patients) on quality of life afterward. The honest picture: overall quality of life often stabilised or recovered beyond six months, but sexual function, body image — frequently tied to stoma formation — and psychological distress commonly stayed worse. No randomized trials existed and most studies carried a serious risk of bias, so this is a careful synthesis of observational evidence, not proof of cause.
When the tumour sits very low: what a 2026 review says about sphincter-preserving surgery for rectal cancer
For rectal cancers very close to the anus, the hardest surgical question is whether the muscle that gives you control — the sphincter — can be kept, or whether removing it (and living with a permanent colostomy) is the safer way to clear the cancer. A 2026 narrative review surveys six sphincter-preserving techniques: most reach acceptable cancer-control outcomes, but bowel function afterwards stays the main concern, and the newest method rests on small studies. This is a survey of options, not a ranking — and the right answer is individual.
Does filling the colon with water make colonoscopy easier? What a 2026 systematic review and meta-analysis of 30 trials actually found
Water infusion — filling the colon with warm water instead of air or CO2 — has been studied as a gentler way to do a colonoscopy. A 2026 systematic review and meta-analysis pooled 30 randomized trials: it found no difference in adenoma detection, reaching the cecum, or procedure time, but fewer people needed on-demand sedation (risk ratio 0.61) or abdominal pressing (risk ratio 0.65). A comfort finding, not a detection upgrade — and whether it's offered depends on your endoscopy unit.