Diagnostic and Therapeutic Role of Endoscopy in Crohn’s Disease

Abstract

Endoscopy plays a very important role in the management of Crohn’s disease (CD). It is an extremely important diagnostic tool in the period of symptoms onset, allowing the evaluation of the activity and of the extent of the disease; moreover, it is very useful in follow-up giving an evaluation of the response to the medical therapy, a detection of recurrences following surgery, and providing an oncological screening. Several procedures like traditional colonoscopy, single- and double-balloon enteroscopy, endocapsule examination, and endoscopic ultrasound are today available. CD can be diagnosed with endoscopy by a skilled gastroenterologist in the setting of a suggestive clinical presentation.