Author information

1 Inflammatory Bowel Disease Clinical and Research Unit, Istituto Clinico Humanitas, Milan, Italy.

2 Inflammatory Bowel Diseases Clinic, Asian Institute of Gastroenterology, Hyderabad, India.

3 Department of Gastroenterology, Southampton General Hospital, Southampton, UK.

4 Division of Gastroenterology at the Rabin Medical Center, Petah-Tikva, Israel, affiliated with the Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv, Israel.

5 Colorectal Surgery Unit, Hospital Universitário Cajuru, Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná, Curitiba, Brazil.

6 Gastroenterology and Liver Services, Concord Hospital, Sydney, Australia.

7 Ferring Pharmaceuticals, Saint-Prex, Switzerland.

8 Inserm U954, Department of Gastroenterology, Nancy University Hospital, Lorraine University, Vandoeuvre-les-Nancy, France.

9 East Kent Hospitals Trust, Canterbury, UK.

10 UZ Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.

11 Department of Hepatology, Gastroenterology & Infectious Diseases, University Hospital Tuebingen, Tübingen, Germany.

12 IBD Clinic, Department of Gastroenterology, Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición, Mexico City, Mexico.

Abstract

Symptomatic ulcerative colitis (UC) can be a chronic, disabling condition. Flares in disease activity are associated with many of the negative impacts of mild-to-moderate UC. Rapid resolution of flares can provide benefits to patients and healthcare systems. i Support Therapy-Access to Rapid Treatment (iSTART) introduces patient-centered care for mild-to-moderate UC. iSTART provides patients with the ability to self-assess symptomology and self-start a short course of second-line treatment when necessary. An international panel of experts produced consensus statements and recommendations. These were informed by evidence from systematic reviews on the epidemiology, mesalazine (5-ASA) treatment, and patient use criteria for second-line therapy in UC. Optimized 5-ASA is the first-line treatment in all clinical guidelines, but may not be sufficient to induce remission in all patients. Corticosteroids should be prescribed as second-line therapy when needed, with budesonide MMX® being a preferred steroid option. Active involvement of suitable patients in management of UC flares has the potential to improve therapy, with patients able to show good accuracy for flare self-assessment using validated tools. There is a place in the UC treatment pathway for an approach such as iSTART, which has the potential to provide patient, clinical and economic benefits.