Biologic Use Correlates with Lower Rate of Surgery in IBD

Biologic therapy in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) leads to a greater mucosal healing rate than previous therapies, thereby decreasing the need for surgery due to ongoing inflammatory disease.

To quantify the effect of biologic use on surgery, investigators conducted a retrospective study using a large national administrative database including over 30 million patients with active records over a 5-year period (2015–2020). They identified approximately 140,000 patients with Crohn disease and 117,000 with ulcerative colitis. Biologic use comprised any prescription written for a biologic for either ulcerative colitis or Crohn disease. Surgeries examined were intestinal resection and colectomy and occurred at least 60 days after starting biolo…