title: Abdominal surgery for Crohn's disease during 30 years in Middle Norway.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of the study was to analyze the annual incidence of laparotomy for Crohn's disease in a defined population in Middle Norway. We also wanted to assess the feasibility of the new Vienna classification of Crohn's disease in this pure surgical material.
  
  
  METHODS
  We conducted a retrospective study of 102 consecutive abdominal operations for Crohn's disease in 74 patients. Age at onset, disease behavior and location were classified according to the recent Vienna classification. The median follow-up after the primary operation was 6.2 years (0.5-25.1 years).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The number of operations increased for every 5-year period: The corresponding annual incidence rates for primary operations from 1975 were 0.2, 1.9, 3.3, 4.7 and 5.4 per 100,000 inhabitants. The Vienna classification divided this purely surgical material into meaningful groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The study demonstrated a steady increase in laparotomies for Crohn's disease in our area during the study period.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Levanger Hospital, Levanger, Norway. tom-hare@online.no
authors.forename: Tom-Harald
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Edna
authors.forename: Tormod
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bjerkeset
authors.forename: Knut
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Skreden
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D003424:Crohn Disease / Q000145:classification / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007813:Laparotomy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009664:Norway / Q000453:epidemiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies