Management and Treatment of Crohn’s Disease

Introduction: Crohn’s disease is a type of inflammatory bowel disease and is defined by transmural inflammation that can exist anywhere between from the mouth to anus. It is associated with diarrhoea and bleeding but also more systemic features such as mouth ulcers, abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting, loss of appetite, weight loss, malnutrition, loss of energy and anaemia. Compared to ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease can appear more subtly. Disease can be complicated by fistulae (connecting tracts between the bowel and other organs or skin surface), strictures (narrowing), or abscesses/ collections.1 Disease mainly affects the ileal, ileocolonic, or colonic regions.1 Treatment approaches in recent years have focused on a treat to target approach in order to avoid complications and digestive damage in the long run.2

Complications include