Crohn’s Disease
Crohn’s disease is sometimes called regional enteritis. There may be inflammation of any part of the gastrointestinal tract from mouth to anus. Commonly affected areas are the terminal ileum, colon and anorectal regions. Clinical features include chronic diarrhea, abdominal pain, fever, anorexia, and weight loss. Crohn’s disease is most often diagnosed between the ages of 20 – 40. There is an increased risk of colon cancer if the disease has been present over 15 years. Treatment is similar to that of ulcerative colitis. However, over half of Crohn’s patients will need some surgical intervention within 5 years. Because the entire gastrointestinal tract can be involved, surgery is not curative and recurrences following surgery are common.
Expectations:
| Condition | Rating |
| 6 months or less from diagnosis and/or severe episode | Postpone |
| 6+ months from diagnosis or severe episode and stable symptoms | Table 2-3 |
| Single episode, 10+ years ago, no medications for 5 years | No rating (standard or better) |
| 2 severe episodes in the last year or 3 in the last 2 years | Table 6 |
| Others, evidence of sclerosing cholangitis or dysplasia on biopsy | Decline |
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