Crohn's Disease

Diagnosis

It may require months for your doctor to diagnose Crohn's disease with certainty. Your doctor will look for evidence of intestinal inflammation and try to distinguish it from other causes of intestinal problems, such as infection or ulcerative colitis, a related disease that also causes intestinal inflammation. If you have Crohn's disease, your symptoms and the results of various tests will fit a pattern over time that is best explained by this condition.

Tests that can indicate inflammation and show evidence of Crohn's disease include:

• Blood tests showing a high white blood cell count or other signs of inflammation in your body

• A blood test for anemia, which is a reduced number of red blood cells

• Autoantibody tests that reveal antibodies in the blood of people with Crohn's disease. These antibody tests are helpful to doctors who are trying to decide whether inflammation in the bowel is best explained by Crohn's disease, or best explained by ulcerative colitis. The antibodies are not a reliable way to know whether inflammation is occurring in the first place.

• Stool (also called feces or bowel movement) tests that show bleeding from irritated intestines, and that do not show signs of infection

• An X-ray test called an upper GI (gastrointestinal) series, in which pictures are taken of your abdomen after you drink a white, chalky barium solution that shows up on X-rays. As the liquid trickles down, it traces the outline of your intestines on the X-ray. An upper GI series can reveal places in the intestine that are narrowed because the intestine wall is thickened. It also can highlight ulcers and show detours in the intestine, which may be a fistula.

• Flexible sigmoidoscopy or colonoscopy tests, which use a small tube inserted into the rectum that contains a camera and light that allow your doctor to view the insides of your large intestine

• Biopsy is the removal of a small sample of tissue from the lining of the intestine. The material is examined under a microscope for signs of inflammation. A biopsy is most helpful to confirm Crohn's disease and to exclude other conditions.

Expected Duration

Crohn's disease is a lifelong condition, but it is not continuously active. Following a flare-up symptoms can stay with you for weeks or months. Often these flare-ups are separated by months or years of good health without any symptoms.