Network meta-analyses in IBD: pitfalls and promise for clinicians

Abstract

Network meta-analysis (NMA) has seen an exponential rise in use over the past two decades, with publications in gastroenterology increasingly using this approach to inform guidelines, such as for colorectal cancer surveillance and inflammatory bowel disease management. However, alongside this growth comes a parallel risk: that methodological complexity and statistical misinterpretation may lead to misuse of the findings. As this paper outlines, NMAs can unintentionally mislead when clinical certainty is obscured by statistical hierarchy. To address these limitations, we present the promise of NMAs and a novel way of presenting NMA results, the GORDON Plot (Grade Of Results Diagram Of Network meta-analysis)