Male1: … to resection a colitis, the risk of cancer goes away?
Male2: Yes because there is not going to be inflammation in the colon, therefore a persistent inflammation is one of the conditions that may facilitate the onset of malignancy.
Male1: There is another inflammatory bowel disease called Crohn’s disease. How does that present?
Male2: Crohn’s disease is a similar, but at the same time a very different disease than ulcerative colitis. We have said before that ulcerative colitis limits itself to the colon. Whereas in Crohn’s disease, the inflammation may occur from the mouth through the anus of the patient, and commonly involved is the small bowel particularly the terminal part of the distal part of the small bowel in a section of the small bowel that we call the ileum. Another aspect that is different in Crohn’s disease compared to ulcerative colitis is that the inflammation in ulcerative colitis occurs in the inner lining of the intestine. It is rather superficial, whereas in Crohn’s disease, the inflammation may go through and through the whole wall of the intestine, and therefore, one of the potential complications of Crohn’s disease is the formation of fistula. In other words, false communication between intestinal loops and sometimes communication between the intestine and any part of the body or skin like the abdomen or in the perianal area.
Male1: We talked about before, ulcerative colitis—you just remove it, you get rid of it, but Crohn’s disease you do not remove it do you?
Male2: Unfortunately, the removal of the inflamed portion of the intestine in Crohn’s disease is not curative because again, the inflammation may occur in any part of the intestine, so a patient may require surgery as part of the treatment of Crohn’s disease because one of the complications of this inflammation, which is quite severe in the intestine is the presence of a stricture. The formation of a scar in the intestine that really may occlude completely the lumen of the intestine and therefore, there is going to be a lot of difficulties passing the intestinal juice and the food through the intestine, therefore in such cases, if the problem does not improve after receiving the appropriate medical treatment, the patient may need surgery to have a resection of that portion of the intestine that had that scar, that stricture.
Male1: But Crohn’s disease is treatable with medication?
Male2: Certainly, it is treatable with medication and again, similar to ulcerative colitis, we have medications to use as part of the treatment of the acute flare up of the condition and medications to maintain the patient on remission.
Transcription by:
Scribe4you Transcription Services