One of the presentations I attended at Advances in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (AIBD) in Orlando, Florida in December 2019 was regarding the use of 5-aminosalicylic acid (5-ASA) drugs in IBD. The talk, “Don’t Forget that 5-ASAs Also Have Side Effects: Recognizing Complications” was given by Meenakshi Bewtra, MD, MPH, PhD, Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.

On the face of it, this appeared to be a straightforward presentation on the adverse effects (side effects) of these medications which are used to treat ulcerative colitis. However, there was an unexpected twist!