Take-Home Messages for the Management of Crohn’s Disease

David P. Hudesman, MD: But maybe we could finish up this discussion. And Dr Seminerio, you could start us off. Maybe a piece of advice or one take home message from the discussion today and we could go around.

Jennifer Seminerio, MD: The take home is that there is a lot that's coming and that it is going to be very, very important for us to have discussions with our patients, come up with a plan together, and just be very cognizant that that plan may need some adjustments. If we put that out there that it's not a failure if we have to make an adjustment or one treatment doesn't work but that we're on top of it as quickly as possible. That is the best thing we can do for our patients is to show that we're never going to give up on them.

David P. Hudesman, MD: Dr Regueiro?

Miguel Regueiro, MD, AGAF, FACG, FACP: I'd say a couple of things, one listen to your patient. Obviously, the shared decision, set the goals with the patient. And then number 2, like we've talked about is if you know that Crohn's disease, 80% of Crohn's disease, from the start will require an advanced therapy. Starting that earlier, Jen said that several times, but also then, even within that group, what are the ones with the highest risk factors? Fistula and deep ulcers, multiple segments involved versus which are the ones that are moderate to severe single segments. I know we have great options for both.

David P. Hudesman, MD: Dr Afzali?

Anita Afzali, MD, MPH, MHCM, FACG, AGAF: Not much more to add other than we are not exactly at precision medicine and practice of precision medicine in IBD but we are certainly getting there. And again, identifying- initiate early appropriate therapy and recognize that we could still practice individualized care.

David P. Hudesman, MD: And Dr Abraham?

Bincy P. Abraham, MD, MS, AGAF, FACG: I would echo everyone's comments here. But the key takeaway I would say is start our patients early. Don't delay their care. We can limit all the complications and poor outcomes if you start that patient early. Then personalize it based on all their risk, their severity, comorbidities. Choose appropriately. And then once you have done that, follow them closely over time. This is not a disease that ends after one year. This is a chronic lifetime disease. You cannot go wrong by starting early, choosing a therapy that you think may be the best for that patient. It may or may not work but if it doesn't then you know that you're following them closely and then follow them throughout their time. And of course, you can adjust how frequently you follow them once you get them into complete remission.

David P. Hudesman, MD: I agree. And just one last thing to add is personalizing the target. We've been hearing about treat to target so much. But the target for each patient is different. And as we started the discussion, it's different for each patient. Starting early and personalizing that target. But I want to thank everyone for this rich and informative discussion and thank you for watching this HCPLive® Peer Exchange. If you enjoy the content, please subscribe to our e-newsletters to receive upcoming Peer Exchanges and other great content right in your inbox.

Transcript Edited for Clarity