Responses
Other responses
Jump to comment:
- Published on: 26 August 2018
- Published on: 26 August 2018Proton Pump Inhibitors may be the cause of an elevated faecal calprotectin.
Practical Guidance on the use of faecal calprotectin
Brookes MJ et al
Frontline Gastroenterology 2018; 9:87-91
Dear Sir
I read this article with interest particularly as I work in a community gastroenterology unit.
Our unit performs straight to test colonoscopy. We are referred a significant number of
patients who present with loose motions but do not have alarm symptoms or worrying family
histories.. Many of them are found to have faecal calprotectin levels which are only slightly
elevated or in the intermediate range.
Many of these patients are also taking proton pump inhibitors on a regular basis. A
colonoscopy is performed and colonic biopsies are taken which are almost always
normal. A paper, albeit with small numbers of patients, showed that proton pump
1
inhibitors may cause a rise in faecal calprotectin levels in normal subjects.I recommend that, when it is safe and appropriate to do so, the GP considers stopping
proton pump inhibitors in such patients and repeats the faecal calprotectin in four weeks.
The aim here is to avoid unnecessary colonoscopy in a low-risk young patients, most of
whom have functionally related symptoms. I recent...
Show MoreConflict of Interest:
None declared.