CD is a chronic inflammatory disorder of the gastrointestinal tract that results in significant morbidity and health-care expenditure. More than 400,000 individuals in the United States have been diagnosed with CD, and the prevalence continues to increase as a result of both increasing incidence and improved survival.
1 The chronic nature of CD results in frequent hospitalizations, with a majority of patients eventually requiring surgery as a result of complications such as strictures, abscesses, fistula, or refractory disease. The etiology of CD is currently unknown, but the disease…