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Outlook

The intestinal complications of Crohn's disease include the following:

• Intestinal obstruction
  
• Fistulas
  
• Abscess
  
• Hemorrhage (bleeding) - Unusual in Crohn's disease
  
• Malabsorption - Results in diarrhea and nutritional deficiencies
  
• Acute regional enteritis
  
• Carcinoma - Colonic disease increases risk of colon cancer
  

Although Crohn's disease is a chronic illness with episodes of remission and relapses, appropriate medical and surgical therapies help affected individuals have a reasonable quality of life.

• Crohn's disease usually has a chronic, slow course regardless of the site of involvement.
  
• Medical therapy becomes less effective with time. Nearly two thirds of people with Crohn's disease require surgery for complications at some point in their disease.
  
• The longer you have Crohn's disease, the more likely you are to develop complications that can be fatal. Cancer of the digestive tract is the leading cause of death for people with Crohn's disease.
  
• Crohn's disease frequently recurs after surgery.