In this historical overview, Prof. Giovanni Maconi takes viewers through the development of intestinal ultrasound (IUS) and its growing relevance in the management of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). He begins by acknowledging how ultrasound has long been used in other organs such as the liver and gallbladder, but notes that bowel assessment was largely overlooked for many years.
The session traces the origins of bowel ultrasound back to the late 1980s, when researchers first demonstrated that sonography could detect features of Crohn’s disease, such as bowel wall thickening. These early findings were groundbreaking but underutilized for years due to technical limitations and lack of training.
Prof. Maconi highlights how growing clinical interest, combined with technological advancements, led to a gradual but steady integration of IUS into gastrointestinal practice. He reviews pivotal studies that validated the accuracy of ultrasound for detecting disease activity, strictures, and complications—making it a reliable, non-invasive alternative to endoscopy or CT/MRI. In 2018, a standardized concept for intestinal ultrasound was developed and is being used to evaluate inflammatory bowel disease.
The talk emphasizes key turning points in IUS adoption, including its formal use in European IBD guidelines and increasing use in daily clinical practice. Today, IUS plays a significant role in IBD monitoring, treatment response assessment, and even patient education.
This session sets the stage for understanding how far IUS has come and why it’s now considered a frontline imaging tool in modern gastroenterology.
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