Initial treatment for Crohn’s disease usually involves medicine to treat and relieve symptoms. Medicines known as corticosteroids are the primary therapy for moderate-to-severe Crohn’s disease. In clinical trials, 75% of patients with Crohn’s disease responded to corticosteroid therapy. While these drugs are effective in achieving remission or getting Crohn’s disease under control, they have not proven effective in preventing relapses.⁸

Other types of medicine, known as aminosalicylates, are the primary therapies for mild-to-moderate Crohn’s disease. Drugs known as immunomodulatory agents, for their ability to affect the way your immune system responds, are used both to control active cases and to maintain remission of Crohn’s disease.⁸

Complications with Crohn’s disease can include obstruction or blockage of the intestine, due to swelling, and the formation of scar tissue and sores and ulcerations within the intestinal tract. These complications can be treated with medication, but surgery is sometimes appropriate. Another complication of Crohn’s disease is malnutrition or nutritional deficiencies, which can be treated with nutritional supplements.

See a diagram of minimally invasive surgery and open surgery for Crohn’s disease.

Watch an animation of what happens during minimally invasive surgery and open surgery for Crohn’s disease.

Surgery is eventually required in up to three-fourths of all Crohn’s disease patients, either to relieve symptoms that do not respond to medical therapy or to correct complications such as blockage, perforation, abscess, or bleeding in the intestine. The most common surgical procedure is the removal of the diseased portion of the bowel. Indications for surgery may include abscess formation, fistulas (abnormal communications from the intestine), severe anal disease, or persistence of the disease despite appropriate drug treatment.¹⁰

During surgery, part of the diseased colon is removed through an incision in the abdomen, along with a small length of normal colon. The two ends of the colon are then reattached.⁸

Sometimes the surgeon cannot reconnect the colon. In this case, a new opening, or stoma, to the outside of the abdomen is created. The intestine is then connected to the stoma, where a bag is attached to collect body waste. This is called a colostomy. In most cases, a colostomy is only temporary. For most people, it is needed only until the colon or rectum heals from surgery. After healing takes place, the surgeon reconnects the colon and closes the stoma.⁸

During traditional open surgery, the surgeon makes an incision up to 12 inches long from the upper to the lower abdomen to view the colon and remove the diseased portions. Because of the nature of this procedure, patients often face a healing process that results in a hospital stay of at least a week, with recovery time ranging from six to eight weeks.⁹

You now have another surgery option for Crohn’s disease, minimally invasive colon surgery, also known as laparoscopic surgery.

Find out more about minimally invasive colon surgery for Crohn’s disease and whether or not minimally invasive colon surgery may be an option for you.

With both open surgery and MIP, you will need time to heal. You will be on intravenous fluids and pain medication, and you will not be able to eat for the first couple of days. You probably will feel tired and weak, and possibly have some constipation for some time. Your healthcare team will monitor your progress and work to get you back to normal as quickly as possible.