← Issue №5/ week of Aug 2, 2026/IBD

Transmural improvement may be an acceptable target in patients with Crohns disease.

From GI Signals issue №5: what this paper found, what it changes, and where it sits against the current standard of care, reviewed by Simon Mathews, MD.

IBD retrospective · n=411 · Aug 1, 2026 · Inflamm Bowel Dis · IF 4.5

Transmural improvement may be an acceptable target in patients with Crohns disease.

New evidenceCrohn's diseasebiologicstherapeutic drug monitoringIBD surgery
Clinical takeawayConsider transmural improvement (SES-CD decrease ≥50% and sMaRIA decrease ≥1 with ≤25% bowel wall thickness reduction) as a treatment target in Crohn's patients unable to achieve transmural remission, but monitor stricturing disease more closely due to higher surgery (HR 4.043) and hospitalization (HR 3.704) risks.
What it foundTransmural improvement in Crohn's disease reduced surgery to 16.3% vs 46.8% with no transmural improvement, hospitalization to 30.8% vs 55.4%, and steroid use to 34.6% vs 51.1%.
ContextRefines current practice by suggesting transmural improvement as a viable alternative to transmural remission, which is seldom achieved, while confirming its association with better outcomes.
Refinessuggested applicable standard· American Gastroenterological Association, 'AGA Clinical Practice Update on Surgical Risk Assessment and Perioperative Management in Cirrhosis: Expert Review' (Northup PG et al., Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol 2019;17(4):595-606). DOI 10.1016/j.cgh.2018.09.043, PMID 30273751.

Decision at stakewhether to clear Crohn's disease patients for elective surgery based on transmural disease activity

Defer elective surgery for active GI bleeding, active IBD flare, recent pancreatitis, or unoptimized anemia, and specify perioperative precautions (stress-dose steroids, biologic hold matrix, GLP-1/SGLT2 holds, aspiration precautions) where indicated.

From our summary of this standard, unedited — the part the paper bears on. marks omitted text. Our wording, not the guideline's; read the source for its own text.

Our full summary of this standard

Determine GI surgical clearance based on the specific condition and its activity rather than an automatic sign-off: most stable chronic GI conditions (GERD, IBS, controlled IBD, compensated MASLD, asymptomatic gallstones) may be cleared, while active conditions, cirrhosis, and perioperative drug management require explicit stratification and documentation. For any cirrhotic patient, perform mandatory risk stratification with VOCAL-Penn and Child-Pugh class before clearance; manage variceal prophylaxis per individualized endoscopic and hemodynamic assessment (including NSBB for appropriate candidates) and address rebalanced hemostasis without prophylactic INR correction. Defer elective surgery for active GI bleeding, active IBD flare, recent pancreatitis, or unoptimized anemia, and specify perioperative precautions (stress-dose steroids, biologic hold matrix, GLP-1/SGLT2 holds, aspiration precautions) where indicated.

American Gastroenterological Association, 'AGA Clinical Practice Update on Surgical Risk Assessment and Perioperative Management in Cirrhosis: Expert Review' (Northup PG et al., Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol 2019;17(4):595-606). DOI 10.1016/j.cgh.2018.09.043, PMID 30273751. · reviewed 2026-07-21 ↗
Fernandes SR … Correia LA · Inflammatory Bowel Diseases · IF 4.5 · PubMed ↗Permalink
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