Abscesses in patients with Crohn’s disease—the opinion of the radiologist

Crohn’s disease is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease that affects people of all ages, with the majority of cases occurring before the аge of 30. This disease affects the gastrointestinal tract, and leads to transmural inflammation of the bowel wall. This leads to a contained perforation and subsequent abscess formation. Different clinical and laboratory methods are used to make the diagnosis. The main imaging methods used are: abdominal ultrasound in 100% of patients, 76% computed tomography (CT), 36%—magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Abscesses were found in 18% of the subjects, and the distribution, according to the localization, was as follows: intraperitoneal—20; retroperitoneal—4; perianal—16, and with other localization—1. Their percentage ratio in the entire study group is as follows: 9.2% intraperitoneal location; 1.8% retroperitoneal location; 7.3% perianal location, and 0.4% for another location. In three patients there are abscess collections in more than one area, or 1.3%. Treatments methods of abscesses in patients with Crohn’s disease are: antibiotic treatment, percutaneous drainage, surgical incision, abscessotomy, or a combination of them