Osman Altun, M.D., to present on collaborative care in treatment of inflammatory bowel disease

By Casandra Andrews
candrews@health.southalabama.edu

Pediatric gastroenterologist Osman Altun, M.D., Ph.D., FAAP, will present a lecture on collaborative care for patients with inflammatory bowel disease at the Alabama Chapter of the American Association of Pediatrics’ spring meeting in Gulf Shores on April 20.

Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis are inflammatory bowel diseases that cause chronic inflammation and damage to the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, which is responsible for the digestion of food, absorption of nutrients, and elimination of waste. Inflammation impairs the ability of affected GI organs to function properly, leading to symptoms such as persistent diarrhea, abdominal pain, rectal bleeding, weight loss, and fatigue, according to the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America (CCFA).

Collaborative care is critical in the management of patients with IBD, Altun said, and demands the best of multiple specialties, including gastroenterology, surgery, radiology, rheumatology, and primary care.

In the collaborative care team, the primary care provider often is neglected in medical literature. However, in this regional patient population, Altun noted, the primary care providers have served the population for many years and earned their trust. Often, patients with IBD contact their primary care provider even before they contact a gastroenterologist for IBD-related complications.

“The presentation's focus,” he said, “is to recognize, recruit and support the primary care providers in managing the pediatric IBD population.”

Altun serves as medical director of inflammatory bowel disease at USA Health, and with his partners, he continues to explore opportunities to better serve these patients.

“USA Health has the most critical components of collaborative care to serve the pediatric IBD population,” he noted, “including pediatric radiologists, pediatric surgeons, and pediatric gastroenterologists.”

In addition to caring for patients at USA Health Pediatrics, he also instructs medical students as an assistant professor in pediatrics at the Frederick P. Whiddon College of Medicine at the University of South Alabama.

The Alabama Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics is the only statewide member organization of pediatricians, with 850 members representing both academic and community pediatrics in urban and rural areas. Alabama's pediatricians serve as the first line of healthcare for children across the state and often times are the only medical professionals who the state's children encounter during their formative years.