ESCP has announced the winner of its best abstract research paper as 'Therapy refractory ulcerative colitis patients may benefit from appendectomy' by Merle Stellingwerf et al at its 13th annual conference in Nice, France this week.
46% of patients displayed improvement and 25% entered endoscopic remission
The paper found that 46% of patients diagnosed with ulcerative colitis displayed a positive clinical response after an appendectomy median four years after the operation and 25% achieved endoscopic remission.
Merle Stellingwerf was confirmed as the winner on the back of her presentation at the ‘Six Best Papers’ session at the event which is attended and voted on by specialists from across Europe.
As winner, Merle is invited to present the abstract at the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons (ASCRS) meeting in Cleveland, Ohio, USA in 2019.
The quality and quantity of papers submitted meant competition was greater than ever before with over 700 abstracts submitted.
The five runners up include:
- Functional outcome in a randomised trial of early closure of temporary ileostomy after rectal resection for cancer (EASY trial) - Jennifer Park (Sweden)
- The impact of social media on citation rates in coloproctology - Myung Jo Kim (Republic of Korea)
- Acute resection versus bridge-to-surgery with stent or decompressing colostomy in malignant left-sided colonic obstruction: a Dutch population-based analysis of 2587 patients - Joyce Veld (The Netherlands)
- Local excision after neoadjuvant radiochemotherpy for T2T3 rectal cancer: 5-year results of the GRECCAR 2 trial - Eric Rullier (France)
- The haemorrhoidal disease symptom score and short health scaleHD: new tools to evaluate symptoms and health-related quality of life in haemorrhoidal disease - Haavard Roervik (Denmark)
Professor Ethem Geçim, President of the ESCP said:
“The standard of papers submitted each year is of an exception level and this year was no different. These six best papers are an excellent showcase of the diversity of clinical research being undertaken within the different fields of coloproctology across Europe. We celebrate this innovation as it advances the science, knowledge and practice of coloproctology, which ultimately leads to better outcomes for patients.”
Professor Anna Martling, Chair of the ESCP Programme Committee added:
“The selection process for this award is rigorous, transparent and fair. It includes expert reviewers in each topic area as well as further rounds of judging before the final six are chosen. They all then present at the conference and are graded by an additional independent assessment panel. In addition to scientific quality, the panel also considers the quality of the presentation and the ability of the speaker to answer questions and discuss the scientific findings.
"We congratulate Merle on excelling at each stage of the process and being the worthy winner of Best ESCP Paper 2018."
