Dietary and lifestyle predictors of pouchitis

Pouchitis is a painful inflammatory condition that affects people who have had surgery to remove their large bowel, usually because of severe ulcerative colitis or a hereditary bowel condition called familial adenomatous polyposis. After this surgery, a small internal pouch is constructed from the small bowel, and pouchitis — inflammation of this pouch — is the most common complication. Despite how common it is, very little is known about what triggers flare-ups, and there are no dietary guidelines to help patients manage it. This study will follow people with an ileoanal pouch for 18 months, asking them to regularly report what they eat and how they are feeling emotionally. Participants will also collect small stool samples at home to measure a protein called faecal calprotectin, which indicates inflammation. Researchers hope to identify specific foods or stress patterns that predict when pouchitis worsens, which could lead to the first evidence-based dietary guidelines for pouch patients. You may be eligible if you are aged 18 to 75, live in Australia with an ileoanal pouch, have access to the internet, and are eligible for Medicare. You are not eligible if you have chronic antibiotic-refractory pouchitis — meaning pouchitis that has not responded to at least four weeks of combination antibiotics.