The cost of Crohn's disease: drugs or surgery?

New biological medical therapies and innovative surgical approaches have revolutionised the care of patients with Crohn's disease. Until these innovations began to be utilised over the past decade, studies of the economics of Crohn's disease care were relatively scarce. Questions from both clinical and economic standpoints now arise over potential choices between medical and surgical approaches to patients with Crohn's disease. Initial economic studies suggested that the vast majority of costs in Crohn's disease were due to inpatient services and surgery. The large variance in cost data between patients resulted in a very small percentage of patients accounting for a disproportionately large percentage of the overall costs, with the bulk of costs, charges and reimbursements accrued by surgical cases. Studies suggest that surgery would need to result in a decreased utilisation of outpatient services in order to be 'cost-effective'. Evaluation of the clinical course of Crohn's disease suggests that the surgically-induced remission state is the longest remission state generally experienced by the patients, although sophisticated cost analysis fails to show enough of a remission benefit to offset the high costs associated with surgical procedures and post-operative convalescence. Bowel-sparing intestinal strictureplasty and minimally invasive laparoscopic surgeries have the potential to substantially decrease the costs associated with disease. These techniques need to be applied to a larger percentage of surgical Crohn's patients before the overall economic benefits can be fully assessed. Indirect costs and disability may account for most of the overall costs associated with Crohn's disease. Quality-of-life analyses have revealed that patients ill with Crohn's disease perform poorly, and the detrimental effects of medications or surgery may further increase disability in these patients. Future cost-utility studies may reveal the extent to which overall costs are affected by these issues. This review of the currently available literature on the economics of Crohn's disease suggests that medical therapy which can substantially reduce the utilisation of hospitalisations and surgery might be cost effective, even if the acquisition cost of the drug is high. However, broader application of specialised surgical techniques, together with the long post-operative remission state enjoyed by most Crohn's patients, may also offer a cost-effective long term approach to the disease. It is likely that both surgical and medical approaches will continue to be used in the treatment of Crohn's disease, with options for each patient being carefully considered on an individual basis.