title: Surgery and diagnostic imaging in abdominal Crohn's disease.
abstract: Surgery is well-established option for the treatment of Crohn's disease that is refractory to medical therapy and for complications of the disease, including strictures, fistulas, abscesses, bleeding that cannot be controlled endoscopically, and neoplastic degeneration. For a condition like Crohn's disease, where medical management is the rule, other indications for surgery are considered controversial, because the therapeutic effects of surgery are limited to the resolution of complications and the rate of recurrence is high, especially at sites of the surgical anastomosis. In the authors' opinion, however, surgery should not be considered a last-resort treatment: in a variety of situations, it should be regarded as an appropriate solution for managing this disease. Based on a review of the literature and their own experience, the authors examine some of the possibilities for surgical interventions in Crohn's disease and the roles played in these cases by diagnostic imaging modalities.
authors.affiliation: Unità Operativa di Chirurgia Generale e d'Urgenza, Fondazione IRCCS Cà Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico di Milano, Milan, Italy ; Dipartimento di Fisiopatologia Medico-Chirurgica e dei Trapianti, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Fiorenzo
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Botti
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Fisiopatologia Medico-Chirurgica e dei Trapianti, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy ; Unità Operativa di Gastroenterologia, Fondazione IRCCS Cà Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico di Milano, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Flavio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Caprioli
authors.affiliation: Unità Operativa di Chirurgia Generale e d'Urgenza, Fondazione IRCCS Cà Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico di Milano, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Diego
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pettinari
authors.affiliation: Unità Operativa di Chirurgia Generale e d'Urgenza, Fondazione IRCCS Cà Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico di Milano, Milan, Italy ; Dipartimento di Fisiopatologia Medico-Chirurgica e dei Trapianti, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Carrara
authors.affiliation: Scuola di Specializzazione in Gastroenterologia ed Endoscopia Digestiva, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Magarotto
authors.affiliation: Unità Operativa di Chirurgia Generale e d'Urgenza, Fondazione IRCCS Cà Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico di Milano, Milan, Italy ; Dipartimento di Fisiopatologia Medico-Chirurgica e dei Trapianti, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Ettore
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Contessini Avesani
keywords: Crohn’s disease; Imaging for Crohn’s disease; Surgery