whim-mckinney.org

Does Crohn’s Surgery Really Help?

Q.I’ve heard about surgery for Crohn’s disease, but isn’t that a losing battle? Won’t the disease come back in a different location since it is a chronic disorder?

Ruth

A.Crohn’s disease is a chronic inflammatory disease that typically affects the lower part of the small intestine (ileum) and/or the colon. Symptoms of this disease include diarrhea, abdominal pain, weight loss and fever. Although several types of medications are used to ease the inflammation associated with this disease, there is no cure for this chronic condition.

Surgery is often required for Crohn’s disease that is not controlled with maximum doses of medications or that leads to complications. In the first case, when large doses of steroids fail to get the disease under control, surgery to remove a diseased segment of intestine may allow a reduction in these medications.

Steroids can cause many long-term side effects, so limiting their use is always desirable. In regard to the second issue, complications of Crohn’s include intestinal obstruction (resulting from the chronic inflammation and scarring) and fistulas (abnormal connections from one bowel loop to another or to another organ). There is also a higher risk of colon cancer in patients with Crohn’s disease who have colonic involvement. In all of these complications, surgery is often required