The IBD Unit is led by a team of two Consultants with a subspecialist interest in IBD and is located on level 2 of Tallaght Hospital.
What is Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)
Inflammatory Bowel Disease is a group of chronic lifelong conditions affecting the digestive tract. It includes both Ulcerative Colitis (UC) and Crohn’s Disease (CD) which are similar but affect different parts of the intestine. UC affects the inner lining of the large intestine while CD can affect any part of the digestive tract from the mouth to the anus.
Clinical features of Inflammatory Bowel Disease
The main features of IBD are bloody diarrhoea associated with frequency, urgency and abdominal cramps. In severe attacks patients may suffer weight loss and anorexia.
In addition patients may have symptoms from outside the digestive tract including:
• Arthritis (large joints)
• ankylosing spondylitis
• erythema nodosum
• pyoderma gangrenosum
• iritis and episcleritis (inflammation of the eyeball)
• primary sclerosing cholangitis (75% pts have IBD, Geonzon –Gonzales 2006)
How common is IBD
• 15,000 people in Ireland have IBD
• Incidence in Ireland - 6,000 UC
- 3,000 CD
What causes IBD
The cause of IBD is unknown but is thought to include:
• Genetic susceptibility
• A familial tendency
• Environmental factors -smoking
- stress
- non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs
- history of appendectomy
- history of infection with mycobacteria
- activation of the immune system
- possibly diet but not proven
• Infective agents
• Seasonal changes
• Stress – implicated in aetiology of disease (Mawdsley and Rampton 2005)
Treatment of IBD
Treatment for IBD is often simple and includes both local and oral medications, often the condition can be managed in the community by the patient’s General Practitioner after consultation with a Specialist. Regular review by a specialist is recommended for complex therapies and disease. Surgery may be required in difficult cases.
Mary Kennedy is the IBD Clinical Nurse Specialist here at Tallaght Hospital.
The IBD nurse is often your first point of contact if you require any advice regarding your disease. She provides a rapid point of access for IBD patients, in particular she can provide support, advice and information on your inflammatory bowel condition. Also, she will play an active role in disease and drug education and management. Treatments such as Infliximab (Remicade) and Adalimumab (Humira) are administered by the IBD Nurse.
An advice line is run by the IBD Nurse and the contact number is 01 4142667
