(1) Background: Malnutrition is a highly prevalent complication in patients with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). It is strongly associated with poor clinical outcomes and quality of life. Screening for malnutrition risk is recommended routinely; however, current malnutrition screening tools do not incorporate IBD specific characteristics and may be less adequate for screening these patients. Therefore, we aimed to identify IBD-related risk factors for development of malnutrition. (2) Methods: A retrospective case-control study among IBD patients attending the IBD clinic of the Tel-Aviv Medical Center for ≥2 consecutive physician consultations per year during 2017–2020. Cases who had normal nutritional status and developed malnutrition between visits were compared to matched controls who maintained normal nutritional status. Detailed information was gathered from medical files, including: demographics, disease phenotype, characteristics and activity, diet altering symptoms and comorbidities, medical and surgical history, annual healthcare utility, nutritional intake and the Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool (MUST) score. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to identify malnutrition risk factors. The independent risk factors identified were summed up to calculate the IBD malnutrition risk score (IBD-MR). (3) Results: Data of 1596 IBD patients met the initial criteria for the study. Of these, 59 patients developed malnutrition and were defined as cases (n = 59) and matched to controls (n = 59). The interval between the physician consultations was 6.2 ± 3.0 months, during which cases lost 5.3 ± 2.3 kg of body weight and controls gained 0.2 ± 2.3 kg (p < 0.001). Cases and controls did not differ in demographics, disease duration, disease phenotype or medical history. Independent IBD-related malnutrition risk factors were: 18.5 ≤ BMI ≤ 22 kg/m2 (OR = 4.71, 95%CI 1.13–19.54), high annual healthcare utility (OR = 5.67, 95%CI 1.02–31.30) and endoscopic disease activity (OR = 5.49, 95%CI 1.28–23.56). The IBD-MR was positively associated with malnutrition development independently of the MUST score (OR = 7.39, 95%CI 2.60–20.94). Among patients with low MUST scores determined during the index visit, identification of ≥2 IBD-MR factors was strongly associated with malnutrition development (OR = 8.65, 95%CI 2.21–33.82, p = 0.002). (4) Conclusions: We identified IBD-related risk factors for malnutrition, highlighting the need for a disease-specific malnutrition screening tool, which may increase malnutrition risk detection.

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Background: Educating patients regarding thier inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is important for their empowerment and disease management. We aimed to develop a questionnaire to evaluate patient understanding and knowledge of IBD. Methods: We have developed the Understanding IBD Questionnaires (U-IBDQ), consisting of multiple-choice questions in two versions [for Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC)]. The questionnaires were tested for content and face validity, readability, responsiveness and reliability. Convergent validity was assessed by correlating the U-IBDQ score with physician's subjective assessment scores. Discriminant validity was assessed by comparison to healthy controls (HC), patients with chronic gastrointestinal (GI) conditions other than IBD, and to GI nurses. Multivariate analysis was performed to determine factors associated with a high level of disease understanding. Results:The study population consisted of IBD patients (n = 106), HC (n = 35), chronic GI disease patients (n = 38) and GI nurses (n = 19). Mean U-IBDQ score among IBD patients was 56.5 � 21.9, similar for CD and UC patients (P = 0.941), but significantly higher than that of HC and chronic GI disease patients and lower than that of GI nurses (P < 0.001), supporting its discriminant validity. The U-IBDQ score correlated with physician's subjective score (r = 0.747, P < 0.001) and was found to be reliable (intra-class correlation coefficient = 0.867 P < 0.001

Background Restorative proctocolectomy with ileal pouch-anal anastomosis (IPAA) is the surgical treatment of choice for patients with UC. Unfortunately, pouchitis is a common condition, reported in up to, 72% of pouch patients. Pouchitis pathogenesis is not entirely clear and has similarities to that of Crohn’s disease (CD), given the de-novo inflammation of the small intestine, the microbial dysbiosis and the occurrence of a penetrating phenotype. The Crohn’s Disease Exclusion Diet (CDED) has demonstrated its efficacy in improving clinical and biochemical parameters of intestinal inflammation in CD. Therefore, we aimed to examine whether the CDED may be effective for the treatment of active pouchitis. Methods A non-controlled, open-label, interventional pilot trial. Active pouchitis patients were recruited at the comprehensive pouch clinic of the Tel Aviv Medical Center (TLVMC), a tertiary center. Patients were treated with the CDED (phases, 1–3) for, 24 weeks, underwent, 5 clinic visits (weeks, 0, 3, 6, 12 and, 24) which included physician assessment and monitoring [clinical pouch disease activity index (cPDAI) sub score evaluation], dietary evaluation and guidance, inflammatory biomarkers evaluation, and collection of biologic samples. Patients underwent three pouchoscopy procedures (baseline, end of phase, 2 and end of phase, 3) for assessment of endoscopic and histologic disease activity. The primary endpoint of the study was week-6 clinical remission (cPDAI subscore≥2). Results Fifteen patients (mean age, 42.6±11.2, 3 males, mean pouch age, 14.7±10.7 years) with pouchitis were recruited (Crohn’s like disease of the pouch, n=5; chronic pouchitis, n=4; acute pouchitis, n=3; recurrent acute pouchitis, n=3). Nine patients completed the study protocol and were evaluated throughout, 24 weeks, while six patients were withdrawn: four due to exacerbation requiring antibiotics, and two due to bowel obstruction. No other adverse events were noted. Clinical remission was achieved by, 66.7% of the study population at week, 6 by per-protocol analysis, and was maintained by, 60.0% at week, 12. Modified PDAI (mPDAI) decreased at week, 12 compared to baseline (8.0 vs., 5.0, P=0.027), with an improvement in the median number of defecations per day (24h) (12.5 vs., 7.0, P=0.003), and night (2.5 vs., 1.0, P=0.018). CRP and fecal calprotectin decreased compared to baseline (11.1±5.2 vs, 6.0±4.0, P=0.007, and, 697±680 vs, 497±483, P=0.607). Among patients who achieved clinical remission at week, 6, 80% maintained remission at week, 12 (P=0.025). Conclusion This pilot study demonstrates that CDED is a beneficial and safe therapeutic dietary intervention for pouchitis. Larger controlled trials should be performed in this population.