French national consensus clinical guidelines for the management of Crohn's disease.

BACKGROUND: Crohn's disease (CD) is a chronic and disabling condition. There is no curative medical treatment but current treatments provide increasingly sustainable control of the disease and allow patients a better quality of life. There is limited evidence supporting CD management in specific clinical situations, thus precluding an evidence-based approach.

AIMS: To help clinicians in making informed treatment decisions, a group of 59 French gastroenterologists with experience in the management of CD met to develop straightforward and practical algorithms based on the European Crohn's and Colitis Organisation (ECCO) recommendations.

METHODS: This experts' opinion was developed following a Nominal Group consensus methodology. Nine clinical situations were identified: mildly active CD; uncomplicated moderately active CD, with, and without poor prognostic factors; uncomplicated severely active CD; perianal CD with a single fistula; perianal CD with complex fistula with or without abscess; complicated CD with abscess; intestinal stricture; and post-operative CD. Two working groups were formed and proposed algorithms that were then approved by a two-thirds majority of the Nominal Group.

RESULTS: These algorithms represent the pragmatic consensus of a group of experts in gastroenterology on the modalities of therapeutic care in different clinical situations in CD. They are available via a web application at: www.algorithmici.com.