Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a lifelong immune mediated condition of the digestive tract. It often is diagnosed at a young age and includes ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease, and other bowel disorders. We understand the impact it can have on the lives of our patients, young and old. The AHN Center for Inflammatory Bowel Disease provides state of the art diagnostic and therapeutic care for patients of all ages living with IBD.
Comprehensive IBD care
We offer comprehensive IBD diagnosis and treatment services that are personalized to your needs. If you suspect you may have inflammatory bowel disease, you’ll benefit from our:
- Experience: The expertise of our specialists allow them to give you a precise diagnosis quickly.
- Team mindset: Our gastroenterologists, nutrition specialists, and clinical psychologists collaborate to talk through the specifics of every patient’s case in a multidisciplinary fashion. This approach helps us develop treatment plans personalized to your needs. In some situations, we will also consult experienced colorectal surgeons as a part of your treatment.
- Support services: Physicians diagnose many people with IBD in their teens or young adult years. As part of your treatment, we help you learn to cope with stress, anxiety, depression, and pain. Our psychologist also offers a deep understanding of the challenges bowel problems and IBD treatments can present.
- Convenience: We provide diagnostic and treatment services at many locations throughout western Pennsylvania. And at our Autoimmunity Institute, we offer world-class autoimmune expertise from 14 types of autoimmune specialists in one place. This setup helps you manage IBD with less hassle. We also treat IBD using effective infusion therapies, which you can get at locations near where you live and work.
Diagnosing IBD
Diagnosing inflammatory bowel disease can be challenging. It may also involve ruling out other conditions. A physician will obtain a full history and conduct a thorough physical examination to evaluate your symptoms. To help confirm a diagnosis, your physician may also perform additional testing including:
Our team will guide you through each step of the process and will keep you updated on what to expect next.
Specialized IBD treatment
We offer the latest and most effective IBD treatments available today. IBD treatment options include:
- Medications: Certain medications, such as steroids, can lessen inflammation in the digestive tract and relieve many symptoms and help you go into remission. Other medications, such as immunosuppressives and immunomodulators, can keep symptoms from coming back. We also offer access to promising clinical trials that could provide you with new treatments.
- Advanced Endoscopy for IBD: AHN is proud to be the first health system in the region to offer advanced endoscopic care for complicated IBD patients that suffer from strictures and fistulas. While surgery used to be the main approach for management of these patients, we now offer stricturotomy as a less invasive option. Therefore patients may be able to avoid surgery altogether.
- Surgery: Surgery can effectively manage more severe cases of IBD. Our colorectal surgeons are board-certified and have extensive experience performing complicated procedures, such as partial and total colectomy (removal of part or all of the colon). They are skilled in determining the least invasive procedure for you.
- Nutrition support: Our nutrition specialists work closely with your gastroenterologist to provide nutritional support or guidance that may help your bowel rest and reduce inflammation.
Special expertise in women’s needs
We understand the unique needs of women affected by inflammatory bowel disease. Our physicians work closely to address all of a woman’s health needs in a way that works for her life. Specialists include doctors from:
We can also help women manage issues including:
- Fecundity (a woman’s ability to have children naturally) and fertility
- Medication safety during pregnancy and breastfeeding
- Bone health
- Sexual dysfunction
Contact us
Our team remains available to answer your questions anytime beyond your clinic visit. Call (412) DOCTORS (412) 362-8677 or request an appointment to learn more about AHN inflammatory bowel disease services.
