Status of transition care in inflammatory bowel disease in Spain. Different medical perspectives.

INTRODUCTION: transition is important for a successful follow-up of adolescents with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The objectives of the study were to establish the situation of transition in Spain and to identify needs, requirements and barriers to transition from pediatric and adult gastroenterologist perspectives. METHODS: a structured survey for self-completion using the REDCap platform was distributed via the Spanish Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (SEGHNP) and the Spanish Working Group on Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis (GETECCU). The questionnaire contained closed and ranked questions concerning transition, perceived needs, organizational, clinician and patient related barriers to transition. RESULTS: one hundred and forty surveys were answered, 53% in pediatrics (PG) and 47% from adult gastroenterologists (AG) among 90 hospitals; 66% of them were reference centers. There was a higher response from pediatricians (18.2%) versus adult gastroenterologists (8.3%) (p = 0.03). A structured transition program is adequate in 42.2% centers. A well-structured transition was perceived as very important by 79.5% of PG and 63% of AG (p = 0.03). A higher proportion of both groups identified inadequacies in the preparation of adolescents for transfer (43% and 38%, p = ns). The main deficit areas were the lack of knowledge about disease and treatment as well as the lack of self-advocacy and care coordination. Lack of resources, time and critical mass of patients were the highest ranked barriers by both groups. AG and PG (54% and 55%) highlighted suboptimal training in adolescent medicine. CONCLUSIONS: in Spain, nearly half of the centers have developed a structured transition program. Lack of training, time and insufficient resources are the main barriers for a successful transition.

Adalimumab is effective in long-term real life clinical practice in both luminal and perianal Crohn's disease. The Madrid experience.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate effectiveness and safety of adalimumab in CD patients of the Madrid area and identify predictors of response. METHODS: Multicenter retrospective survey of all CD patients treated with adalimumab in 9 hospitals of the Madrid area (Spain). Univariate and multivariate analysis of predictors of response was performed. RESULTS: 174 patients included (50% males) with a median follow-up of 40 weeks. 30% had active perianal fistulizing disease at the beginning of the therapy with adalimumab. 59% had been previously treated with infliximab, being the lost of response (42.2%) the most frequent cause of withdrawal of the drug. 33% of patients needed dose escalation from every-other week to every week. The median time for this dose escalation was 33 weeks (range 2-120). The percentages of complete response at 4 weeks, 6 months and end of follow-up were 63, 70 and 63% in luminal disease and 49, 50 and 41% in perianal disease respectively. The prevalence of adverse events was 18% (most frequent was: 5 abscesses) causing the withdrawal of the drug in 21% of them. CONCLUSIONS: Adalimumab is effective and safe for the management of CD, even in refractory cases to infliximab.