CROHN’S DISEASE

Crohn’s disease is a type of inflammatory intestinal disease. Regions of the ileum (the distal part of the small intestine from which food passes into the caecum part of the large intestine) become inflamed and oedematous.

The condition usually starts quite suddenly in teens or in young adults. Presenting symptoms are likely to be lower abdominal pain, fever, and diarrhoea. Given this, it is easily mistaken for appendicitis. Indeed, there is often a a palpable tender mass in the right iliac fossa. This can cause bowel obstruction and severe colic. The disease process may resolve itself in a few weeks or else run a chronic course with recurrent episodes.

The areas of the intestine that are affected by oedema develop cracks, and these fissures may extend beyond the intestinal wall to connect with other tissues in the abdominal cavity, causing adhesions, which can be responsible for the often characteristic colic-tpe pain.

It is common among Crohn’s disease sufferers to see symptoms outside of the intestines, such as clubbing of the fingers, arthritis, and ankylosing spondylitis.