Background: Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) are two examples of chronic and relapsing gastrointestinal disorders known as "inflammatory bowel disease" (IBD). This study aims to evaluate the role of CTE in identifying intramural and extramural changes in IBD patients and yield more detailed data about the level and severity of the disease process, thus planning for an appropriate treatment protocol.
Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted from January 2019 until December 2020. It included 30 patients (13 males, 17 females) with clinical manifestations of bloody diarrhea, abdominal pain and/or tenesmus. Then, all patients were subjected to MSCT enterography, results were interpreted, and statistical analysis was done.
Results: The present work demonstrates that CT enterography is a sensitive method to detect inflammatory conditions of the large bowel, the presence of colonic polyps, fistula, stricture and/or abscess, the involvement of small bowel as well as the presence of extra-intestinal finding, thus helping the physicians to make more informed treatment decisions for the patients. However, no single characteristic is particular for differentiation between CD and UC.
Conclusions: CTE is useful for assessing intramural and extra-intestinal involvement in CD and UC.