Helicobacter pylori continues to be a major health problem worldwide, causing considerable morbidity and mortality due to peptic ulcer disease and gastric cancer.

The burden of disease falls disproportionately on less well-resourced populations. As with most infectious diseases, the greatest impact on reducing this burden comes from improvements in socioeconomic status, which interrupt transmission. This has been observed in many regions of the world, but the prevalence of infection remains high in many regions in which improvements in living standards are slow to occur.

Meanwhile, the optimal clinical management and treatment pathways remain unsettled and are evolving with changing antimicrobial resistance patterns. Despite decades of research and clinical practice, major challenges remain. The quest for the most effective, safe, and simple therapy is still a major issue for clinicians. An effective vaccine also still appears to be elusive.

Clinical guidelines not infrequently proffer discordant advice. It is very difficult for guidelines to achieve relevance across a variety of populations with varying spectrums of disease, antimicrobial resistance rates, and vastly different resources. As local factors are central to determining the impact and management strategies for H. pylori infection, it is important for pathways to be based on the best available local knowledge, rather than solely extrapolated from guidelines formulated in other regions, which may be less applicable. To this end, this revision of the WGO H. pylori guideline uses a “cascades” approach that seeks to summarize the principles of management and offer advice for pragmatic, relevant, and achievable diagnostic and treatment pathways based on established key treatment principles and using local knowledge and available resources to guide regional practice.

Keywords: H. pylori, stomach, peptic ulcer, gastric cancer, dyspepsia, antibiotics

Irritable bowel syndrome with diarrhoea (IBS-D) and functional diarrhoea (FDr) are the two major functional bowel disorders characterized by diarrhoea. In spite of their high prevalence, IBS-D and FDr are associated with major uncertainties, especially regarding their optimal diagnostic work-up and management. A Delphi consensus was performed with experts from 10 European countries who conducted a literature summary and voting process on 31 statements. Quality of evidence was evaluated using the grading of recommendations, assessment, development, and evaluation criteria. Consensus (defined as >80% agreement) was reached for all the statements. The panel agreed with the potential overlapping of IBS-D and FDr. In terms of diagnosis, the consensus supports a symptom-based approach also with the exclusion of alarm symptoms, recommending the evaluation of full blood count, C-reactive protein, serology for coeliac disease, and faecal calprotectin, and consideration of diagnosing bile acid diarrhoea. Colonoscopy with random biopsies in both the right and left colon is recommended in patients older than 50 years and in presence of alarm features. Regarding treatment, a strong consensus was achieved for the use of a diet low fermentable oligo-, di-, monosaccharides and polyols, gut-directed psychological therapies, rifaximin, loperamide, and eluxadoline. A weak or conditional recommendation was achieved for antispasmodics, probiotics, tryciclic antidepressants, bile acid sequestrants, 5-hydroxytryptamine-3 antagonists (i.e. alosetron, ondansetron, or ramosetron). A multinational group of European experts summarized the current state of consensus on the definition, diagnosis, and management of IBS-D and FDr.

Keywords: abdominal pain, clinical practice guidelines, diarrhea, FDr, functional bowel disorders, functional diarrhea, IBS-D,  irritable bowel syndrome

Background

Gastroparesis is a condition characterized by epigastric symptoms and delayed gastric emptying (GE) rate in the absence of any mechanical obstruction. The condition is challenging in clinical practice by the lack of guidance concerning diagnosis and management of gastroparesis.

Methods

A Delphi consensus was undertaken by 40 experts from 19 European countries who conducted a literature summary and voting process on 89 statements. Quality of evidence was evaluated using grading of recommendations assessment, development, and evaluation criteria. Consensus (defined as >=80% agreement) was reached for 25 statements.

Results

The European consensus defined gastroparesis as the presence of symptoms associated with delayed GE in the absence of mechanical obstruction. Nausea and vomiting were identified as cardinal symptoms, with often coexisting postprandial distress syndrome symptoms of dyspepsia. The true epidemiology of gastroparesis is not known in detail, but diabetes, gastric surgery, certain neurological and connective tissue diseases, and the use of certain drugs recognized as risk factors. While the panel agreed that severely impaired gastric motor function is present in these patients, there was no consensus on underlying pathophysiology. The panel agreed that an upper endoscopy and a GE test are required for diagnosis. Only dietary therapy, dopamine-2 antagonists and 5-HT4 receptor agonists were considered appropriate therapies, in addition to nutritional support in case of severe weight loss. No consensus was reached on the use of proton pump inhibitors, other classes of antiemetics or prokinetics, neuromodulators, complimentary, psychological, or more invasive therapies. Finally, there was consensus that gastroparesis adversely impacts on quality of life and healthcare costs and that the long-term prognosis of gastroparesis depends on the cause.

Conclusions and Inferences

A multinational group of European experts summarized the current state of consensus on definition, symptom characteristics, pathophysiology, diagnosis, and management of gastroparesis.

Keywords: consensus, endoscopy, gastric emptying, gastroparesis, guideline, prokinetic

Background: The European Association for Endoscopic Surgery Bariatric Guidelines Group identified a gap in bariatric surgery recommendations with a structured, contextualized consideration of multiple bariatric interventions.

Objective: To provide evidence-informed, transparent and trustworthy recommendations on the use of sleeve gastrectomy, Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, adjustable gastric banding, gastric plication, biliopancreatic diversion with duodenal switch, one anastomosis gastric bypass, and single anastomosis duodeno-ileal bypass with sleeve gastrectomy in patients with severe obesity and metabolic diseases. Only laparoscopic procedures in adults were considered.

Methods: A European interdisciplinary panel including general surgeons, obesity physicians, anesthetists, a psychologist and a patient representative informed outcome importance and minimal important differences. We conducted a systematic review and frequentist fixed and random-effects network meta-analysis of randomized-controlled trials (RCTs) using the graph theory approach for each outcome. We calculated the odds ratio or the (standardized) mean differences with 95% confidence intervals for binary and continuous outcomes, respectively. We assessed the certainty of evidence using the CINeMA and GRADE methodologies. We considered the risk/benefit outcomes within a GRADE evidence to decision framework to arrive at recommendations, which were validated through an anonymous Delphi process of the panel.

Results: We identified 43 records reporting on 24 RCTs. Most network information surrounded sleeve gastrectomy and Roux-en-Y gastric bypass. Under consideration of the certainty of the evidence and evidence to decision parameters, we suggest sleeve gastrectomy or laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass over adjustable gastric banding, biliopancreatic diversion with duodenal switch and gastric plication for the management of severe obesity and associated metabolic diseases. One anastomosis gastric bypass and single anastomosis duodeno-ileal bypass with sleeve gastrectomy are suggested as alternatives, although evidence on benefits and harms, and specific selection criteria is limited compared to sleeve gastrectomy and Roux-en-Y gastric bypass. The guideline, with recommendations, evidence summaries and decision aids in user friendly formats can also be accessed in MAGICapp: https://app.magicapp.org/#/guideline/Lpv2kE

Conclusions: This rapid guideline provides evidence-informed, pertinent recommendations on the use of bariatric and metabolic surgery for the management of severe obesity and metabolic diseases. The guideline replaces relevant recommendations published in the EAES Bariatric Guidelines 2020.

Keywords: Bariatric surgery · Metabolic surgery · Severe obesity · EAES · Guidelines · CINeMA · GRADE · AGREE II

Introduction

13C-breath tests are valuable, noninvasive diagnostic tests that can be widely applied for the assessment of gastroenterological symptoms and diseases. Currently, the potential of these tests is compromised by a lack of standardization regarding performance and interpretation among expert centers.

Methods

This consensus-based clinical practice guideline defines the clinical indications, performance, and interpretation of 13C-breath tests in adult and pediatric patients. A balance between scientific evidence and clinical experience was achieved by a Delphi consensus that involved 43 experts from 18 European countries. Consensus on individual statements and recommendations was established if >= 80% of reviewers agreed and <10% disagreed.

Results

The guideline gives an overview over general methodology of 13C-breath testing and provides recommendations for the use of 13C-breath tests to diagnose Helicobacter pylori infection, measure gastric emptying time, and monitor pancreatic exocrine and liver function in adult and pediatric patients. Other potential applications of 13C-breath testing are summarized briefly. The recommendations specifically detail when and how individual 13C-breath tests should be performed including examples for well-established test protocols, patient preparation, and reporting of test results.

Conclusion

This clinical practice guideline should improve pan-European harmonization of diagnostic approaches to symptoms and disorders, which are very common in specialist and primary care gastroenterology practice, both in adult and pediatric patients. In addition, this guideline identifies areas of future clinical research involving the use of 13C-breath tests.

Keywords: breath test, diagnosis, gastroenterology, gastroparesis, helicobacter pylori, liver cirrhosis, motility, pancreatic exocrine insufficiency, pancreatitis