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Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) is a group of disorders that includes Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn’s disease.
The most common signs and symptoms of Crohn’s disease are:
Other general signs and symptoms include:
Signs and symptoms of inflammation outside of the intestines include:
The symptoms a person experiences can vary depending on the severity of the inflammation and where it occurs.
Crohn’s disease is a chronic, or long lasting, disease that causes inflammation—irritation or swelling—in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Most commonly, Crohn’s affects the small intestine and the beginning of the large intestine. However, the disease can affect any part of the GI tract, from the mouth to the anus.
Crohn’s disease is a chronic inflammatory disease of the GI tract, called inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Ulcerative colitis and microscopic colitis are the other common IBDs. Read more in Ulcerative Colitis and Microscopic Colitis: Collagenous Colitis and Lymphocytic Colitis.
Crohn’s disease most often begins gradually and can become worse over time. Most people have periods of remission—times when symptoms disappear—that can last for weeks or years.
People with Crohn’s disease receive care from a gastroenterologist, a doctor who specializes in digestive diseases.
A health care provider treats Crohn’s disease with:
Which treatment a person needs depends on the severity of the disease and symptoms. Each person experiences Crohn’s disease differently, so health care providers adjust treatments to improve the person’s symptoms and induce, or bring about, remission.
Even with medication treatments, up to 20 percent of people will need surgery to treat their Crohn’s disease. Although surgery will not cure Crohn’s disease, it can treat complications and improve symptoms. Health care providers most often recommend surgery to treat
A surgeon can perform different types of operations to treat Crohn’s disease:
Patients will receive general anesthesia. Most patients will stay in the hospital for 3 to 7 days after the surgery. Full recovery may take 4 to 6 weeks.
