Nutritional assessment in inflammatory bowel disease.

Malnutrition is common in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and worsens the clinical course, quality of life and complications. It arises from reduced intake, malabsorption, digestive losses and the increased expenditure caused by inflammation. The European Crohn's and Colitis Organisation (ECCO) recommends screening to identify patients who require nutritional assessment. This assessment is complex, since inflammation alters the classic parameters and no single reference method is available. This review examines the pathophysiology and the assessment methods, with particular attention to screening tools, both the generic ones, not specific to IBD, and the disease-specific tools and the Global Leadership Initiative on Malnutrition (GLIM) criteria, still unevenly applied.