Perioperative Nutritional Considerations In Patients With Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Despite significant advances in medical therapy for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in recent decades, surgical management remains common in the setting of both Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). While the risk of colectomy for UC has declined in the biologic era, most patients with CD will undergo at least one intestinal resection in their lifetime. Preoperative nutritional status is a wellestablished determinant of surgical morbidity. Surgery elicits a metabolic stress response that is proportional to the extent of surgical injury. Adequate lean body and micronutrient stores are needed for healing of surgical incisions, and the individual must be metabolically capable of anabolism for tissue repair. Deficits at any point in this process may lead to complications including anastomotic failure, surgical site infections, delayed return of gastrointestinal (GI) function, and postoperative physical disability with prolonged length of hospital stay.