CROHNS DISEASE OF THE COLON

Idiopathic granulomatous inflammatory disease of the gastrointestinal tract, (mostly intestines and ileocaecal region particularly), involving all layers of the wall, slowly progressive, recurrent, and with a tendency to form fistulae.

1. Only the colon is affected in 20% of cases. The age of onset is 15-25 in most cases.
2. Intermittent bouts of low-grade fever, diarrhea, right lower quadrant abdominal pain and tenderness with mass, tendency to obstruct the bowel, create fistulae, and involve adjacent structures in the inflammation, perianal fistulae.
3. Diagnosis made by barium upper-GI-contrast study series with small bowel follow-through (Ulcerations, strictures, and fistulae cobble stoning, luminal narrowing described as ‘string sign’), Colonoscopy (aphthoid ulcers, strictures, and normal areas adjacent to inflamed areas (‘skip lesions’) with biopsy confirmation.
4. Crohns disease is not of common occurrence in India.