Protagonist: Crohn's disease recurrence can be prevented after ileal resection

Abstract

Clinical recurrence of Crohn's disease after surgery is the consequence of early and evolutive recurrent lesions in the bowel. True prophylactic therapy prevents the development of these early "new" lesions. The most promising prohylactic therapies are early postoperative antibiotic therapy and immunosuppression. The optimal postoperative strategy involves endoscopic or radiologic studies of the bowel to identify those patients that have developed early recurrent lesions.