Canadian Association of Radiologists Gastrointestinal Imaging Referral Guideline

Area of Science:

• Gastroenterology
• Radiology
• Clinical Guideline Development

Background:

• Referral guidelines for gastrointestinal (GI) conditions are essential for appropriate diagnostic imaging.
• A multidisciplinary expert panel was convened by the Canadian Association of Radiologists (CAR) to address this need.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop evidence-based referral recommendations for adult patients presenting with 20 specific clinical/diagnostic GI scenarios.
• To synthesize existing referral guidelines and expert consensus into actionable recommendations.

Main Methods:

• A systematic rapid scoping review was conducted to identify relevant referral guidelines.
• Recommendations from 58 guidelines were evaluated using the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluations (GRADE) framework.
• 85 recommendation statements were developed for the 20 clinical/diagnostic scenarios.

Main Results:

• The guideline includes recommendations for conditions such as dysphagia, dyspepsia, abdominal pain, inflammatory bowel disease, GI bleeding, abnormal liver biopsy, pancreatitis, anorectal diseases, diarrhea, fecal incontinence, and foreign body ingestion.
• The recommendations are specific to the adult population.

Conclusions:

• This guideline provides a comprehensive set of referral recommendations for common adult GI conditions.
• The CAR aims to standardize and optimize the use of diagnostic imaging in gastroenterology practice.