Anemia in Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A Neglected Issue in Comprehensive Inflammatory Bowel Disease Management.

Anemia is the most common extraintestinal inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) manifestations and is significantly correlated with several adverse impacts such as higher hospitalization rate, relapse rate, surgical intervention requirement, and low quality of life. The prevalence of anemia in IBD patients is greatly varied between reports, which is estimated between 8.8% to 74%. However, studies showed there were still gaps in the screening protocol and anemia treatment in daily practice. Anemia in IBD tends to be an overlooked IBD complication yet significant and must be adequately addressed. Anemia in IBD may be caused by several factors that interplayed, with iron deficiency anemia being the most common etiology. Comprehensive management of anemia in IBD should consist of active screening, evaluation of the etiology, holistic treatment, and follow-up monitoring. Optimization of IBD therapy should be emphasized because it also may improve the anemic condition. A multidisciplinary approach and collaboration are needed to ensure better IBD care.

Palliative Management of Advanced Pancreatic Cancer: The Role of Gastroentero-hepatologist.

Pancreatic cancer commonly diagnosed at late stage due to subtle clinical manifestation and associated with low 5-year survival rate. Only 10-20% of patients were found in resectable or localized stage. Several complications may arise due to advanced pancreatic cancer such as obstructive jaundice, gastric outlet obstruction, pancreatic cancer cachexia, pruritus of cholestasis, and cancer pain. Palliative management should be optimized in order to improve patient's quality of life. A gastroentero-hepatologist should collaborate with other specialties to give comprehensive palliative care for advanced pancreatic cancer patients.