BMJ : British medical journal
-
Review Meta Analysis
Faecal calprotectin for screening of patients with suspected inflammatory bowel disease: diagnostic meta-analysis.
To evaluate whether including a test for faecal calprotectin, a sensitive marker of intestinal inflammation, in the investigation of suspected inflammatory bowel disease reduces the number of unnecessary endoscopic procedures. ⋯ Testing for faecal calprotectin is a useful screening tool for identifying patients who are most likely to need endoscopy for suspected inflammatory bowel disease. The discriminative power to safely exclude inflammatory bowel disease was significantly better in studies of adults than in studies of children.