Effects of elemental diet (ED) on surgical treatment in Crohn's disease

Patients with Crohn's disease are at risk of developing short bowel syndrome if they are treated with repeated operations. We examined the effect of preoperative nutritional therapy with elemental diet on the interval until and the outcome after surgical treatment in patients with Crohn's disease.

We reviewed the records for 73 patients with Crohn's disease who underwent intestinal resection in our department between January 1, 1974 and December 31, 1996. Thirty-two of them had not received elemental diet (No ED group) and 41 had received elemental diet therapy (ED group) before the first resection.

The median interval between the onset and first resection was 19.3 months for the NoED group and 67.5 months for the ED group (P = 0.0005). All patients received ED therapy after the first resection. The incidence of second resection was significantly different between the ED and the NoED group after the first operation. (P = 0.045).

Elemental diet therapy is effective in prolonging the interval between the onset and first resection and in reducing the incidence of second resection. The initial introduction of elemental diet therapy is useful in the management of the clinical course of Crohn's disease minimizing surgical intervention.