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Guidelines

H. pylori—testing and treatment consensus

BreathTek UBT aligns with guideline recommendations from ACG, AAFP,  and Maastricht V/Florence Consensus Report to test for H. pylori in patients with uninvestigated  dyspepsia.1-3

Abbreviations: ACG, American College of Gastroenterology; AAFP, American Academy of Family Physicians.

ACG guidelines recommend a test-and-treat strategy and also recommend to confirm eradication testing of H. pylori infection using UBT, fecal antigen test, and endoscopy methods.

  • Test to detect the underlying cause of the condition
  • Treat the patient if infection is detected
  • Test again to confirm eradication at least 4 weeks after completing treatment

H. pylori testing should be performed by a test of active infection, such as 13C-urea breath test or stool antigen test (non-endoscopic tests).4

The test-and-treat strategy is recommended for patients who are under the age of 60 years and have no "alarm features."

  • Alarm features include bleeding, anemia, early satiety, unexplained weight loss, progressive dysphagia, odynophagia, recurrent vomiting, family history of GI cancer, and previous esophagogastric malignancy2
References
  • Ables AZ, Simon I, Melton ER. Update on Helicobacter pylori treatment. Am Fam Physician. 2007;75(3):351-358.
  • Chey WD, Leontiadis GI, Howden CW, Moss SF. ACG clinical guideline: treatment of helicobacter pylori infection. Am J Gastroenterol. 2017;112(2):212-238. https://acgcdn.gi.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/ACG-H.-pylori-Guideline-Summary.pdf. Accessed October 1, 2019.
  • Malfertheiner P, Megraud F, O’Morain CA, et al; European Helicobacter Study Group. Management of Helicobacter pylori infection—the Maastricht V/Florence Consensus Report. Gut. 2016;0:1-25. doi:10.1136/gutjnl-2016-312288.
  • Talley NJ; American Gastroenterological Association. American Gastroenterological Association medical position statement: evaluation of dyspepsia. Gastroenterology. 2005;129(5):1753-1755.