A watchful waiting approach for newly diagnosed Crohn’s disease patients with an inflammatory phenotype

Background An early treat-to-target approach in Crohn’s disease (CD) patients is recommended to avoid complications. However, CD may not always progress despite lack of treatment, thus exposing some patients to unnecessary side effects. We aimed to examine whether newly diagnosed CD patients with an inflammatory phenotype can benefit from a watchful waiting approach. Methods This retrospective cohort study followed CD patients with an inflammatory phenotype who were diagnosed between 2010 and 2015 and followed for at least 1 year. A watchful waiting approach was defined as maintenance therapy with 5-ASA medication only or no treatment during the first year of diagnosis or longer. Disease complications were defined as need for surgery or change in disease phenotype. Results Eighty-six patients were included and followed-up for 57.0 ± 29.0 months. Thirty-seven patients were managed with a watchful waiting approach and 49 with an early therapeutic intervention. The majority of patients (83.8%) in the watchful waiting group did not develop disease complications. In this group, there was no difference in clinical disease severity (stools per day, 2.7 ± 1.7 vs 3.3 ± 1.0, P = 0.39; abdominal pain, 74.2 vs 50.0%, P = 0.24) between those who did not develop complications and those who did. Smoking was associated with a complicated course (multivariate analysis: OR = 1.98, 95% CI 1.06–3.71, P = 0.03). Conclusions A watchful waiting approach of newly diagnosed CD patients with an inflammatory phenotype may be a feasible option, with low long-term complication rate specifically in nonsmoking patients.