The Changing Prognosis of Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn Disease by Decades

Abstract We present a bird’s eye view of the prognosis for both ulcerative colitis and Crohn disease as contained in the database of an Inflammatory Bowel Disease gastroenterologist covering the period from 1950 until the present utilizing the variables of medical therapy, surgical intervention, complications, and deaths by decades. Lay Summary From a 60-year experience with the diagnosis and management of Crohn disease and ulcerative colitis, 3300 patients were entered into a database according to decade of diagnosis. Analysis shows the incidence of hospitalizations, surgical interventions, and extraintestinal manifestations have all decreased coincident with immunosuppressive and biological therapies.