How to Approach the Difficult Perineum in Crohn's Disease.

Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.

• Level A · Stronger Clinical Evidence
• Level B · Emerging clinical evidence with positive signals
• Level C · Early human research exploring benefits
• Level D · Scientific groundwork from lab and animal studies
• Emerging · Emerging topic under active research

Abstract (original English)

Crohn's disease (CD) is a chronic, inflammatory bowel disease with a wide range of presentations, including perianal disease. Presentation is variable, ranging from skin tags to complex fistulas, strictures, and nonhealing wounds. Symptoms of perianal CD can be devastating and may impact quality of life. Optimal management requires coordinated medical and surgical therapy. When possible, conservative treatment of perianal disease should be attempted. However, surgical treatment is often required, and some patients may ultimately require total proctocolectomy with permanent diversion due to the severity of disease. Even with close attention and treatment, disease can be recurrent, and complications of treatment are sometimes worse than the initial presentation. Novel treatments, including use of mesenchymal stem cells and autologous fat grafting, hold some promise, but are not yet widely available. Thorough knowledge of treatment options, careful patient selection, coordination between medical and surgical providers, and setting realistic expectations are important in the successful treatment of difficult perineal CD.

Evidence level

Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.

Browse all related research

Filter the research library by this study's title keywords, author, or publication year.