CORRESPONDENCE TO: Professor J P Galmiche, Hépato-Gastroentérologie, Hôtel Dieu, CHU de Nantes, 44035 Nantes Cedex, France (email: galmiche@easynet.fr). This consensus conference followed the rules developed by the French Agence Nationale pour le Développement de l'Evaluation Médicale (ANDEM). Briefly, this required an organising committee, a working group whose task was to make a comprehensive critical review of the literature before the conference was held, a panel of experts, and a jury. The conference was held over two days and included (a) a public session with presentations by experts working in areas relevant to the consensus questions, (b) questions and statements from conference attendees, and (c) deliberation by the jury, followed by the drafting of conclusions and recommendations. (GUT 1998;:892-898)