Crohn's disease (CD) is a chronic, relapsing transmural inflammatory disorder of unknown etiology with genetic, immunologic, and environmental influences that can involve anywhere in the gastrointestinal tract.
Malnutrition is a highly prevalent problem in patients with crohn's disease (CD). It is strongly associated with poor clinical outcomes and quality of life.
Several contributing factors include decreased nutrient intake, malabsorption, increased energy expenditure, and increased gastrointestinal losses contribute to protein energy malnutrition and specific micronutrient deficiencies in CD such as iron, zinc, magnesium, calcium, vitamin D and vitamin B12.
Prealbumin is a preferred marker for protein malnutrition. It does not reflect overall protein status. It's short half-life of 2 days can reflect recent food intake so it is used to evaluate the early response to nutritional support.
The Subjective Global Assessment (SGA), is a validated nutritional assessment method that diagnoses malnutrition and provides important prognostic information in different patient populations. Patients are classified as well nourished (class A), moderately malnourished (class B), or severely malnourished (class c) according to different parameters that cover the patient's history and physical examination.