Comparing medical treatments for Crohn's disease.
The drugs available for inflammatory bowel disease are aminosalicylates, antibiotics, steroids, immunosuppressors and biologics. The effectiveness of these drugs has been evaluated in many randomized clinical trials, mainly versus placebo. Few studies have been conducted comparing the different drugs among themselves, owing to the methodological problems raised by comparative trials, such as sample size and blindness. This review focuses mainly on the randomized clinical trials that have compared different treatments. Of course comparisons are mainly between drugs used in a particular setting (mild, moderate and severe disease). However, on many occasions there is no homogeneity in these clinical settings, and therefore the results are difficult to interpret.
DI.BI.MIS., Division of Internal Medicine "Villa Sofia-V. Cervello" Hospital, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy.
Sara
S
Renna
Ambrogio
A
Orlando
Mario
M
Cottone
D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000636:Aminosalicylic Acids / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001379:Azathioprine / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001685:Biological Factors / Q000627:therapeutic use; D019819:Budesonide / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003424:Crohn Disease / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007412:Intestinal Fistula / Q000188:drug therapy; D008727:Methotrexate / Q000627:therapeutic use; D019936:Probiotics / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D055502:Secondary Prevention
D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones; D000636:Aminosalicylic Acids; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D001685:Biological Factors; D019819:Budesonide; D001379:Azathioprine; D008727:Methotrexate