Inflammatory bowel diseases, Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis

Specialists of the Israeli Tel Aviv Medical Clinic under the term inflammatory bowel disease combine two diseases: Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. Crohn’s disease is a chronic disease in which granulomatous inflammation occurs that affects any part of the digestive tract. Ulcerative colitis is a chronic inflammatory disease of the large intestine, in which the rectum is necessarily affected.

Diseases develop mainly at a young age (20-40 years). Correct and timely diagnosis is very important for successful treatment. However, it is difficult to make a correct diagnosis, since these pathologies are systemic diseases with extremely diverse symptoms. Sometimes a diagnosis is made only 1.5 years after the onset of the first symptoms.

Doctors at the Department of General Surgery conduct a comprehensive diagnosis, make the correct diagnosis and select an individual treatment regimen, and, if necessary, perform the surgical intervention. Our clinic is equipped with modern equipment, which helps with 100% accuracy to identify pathology at the initial stage. Our surgeons have extensive knowledge and skills for performing complex surgical interventions. 

Symptoms 

If you have the following signs of the disease, you should immediately seek qualified help: 

• Cramping and abdominal pain;
• Pale grey plaque on the tongue;
• Bloody diarrhoea;
• Difficulty with bowel movements;
• Fever;
• Loss of appetite;
• Weight loss;
• Anaemia (due to blood loss).

If necessary, the doctor will give a referral to other narrow specialists. The diagnosis is established on the basis of an assessment of the clinical picture of the disease and research data.

Treatment 

The main goal of treatment is to achieve a deep remission of the disease when the inflammatory processes in the gastrointestinal tract completely subside, and the patient feels great. A phased approach is used to treat inflammatory bowel diseases. First of all, for a short period of time, the least aggressive (with a minimum of possible side effects) drugs are prescribed. If they do not lead to relief, then resort to more powerful (aggressive) means, and so on.

In the treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases, drugs belonging to various pharmacological groups are used, in particular aminosalicylates, corticosteroids, immunomodulators, inhibitors of tumour necrosis factor (TNF), as well as antibiotics. Sometimes even surgical intervention is required.