Intravenous Steroids Do Not Improve Short-Term Outcomes of Patients With Crohn's Disease Presenting With an Acute Small Bowel Obstruction

Background Intravenous (IV) steroids are commonly used to treat acute flares of Crohn's disease (CD). However, it is unclear if they are beneficial in the setting of uncomplicated small bowel obstruction (SBO). We sought to examine if IV steroid administration improved short-term outcomes in patients with CD hospitalized for acute, uncomplicated SBO across three New York City hospital systems.Methods This retrospective study included patients >= 18 years old admitted between January 1, 2011, and December 31, 2019, with Crohn's disease and an admission diagnosis of uncomplicated acute SBO, defined as cases without adhesions, fistula, phlegmon, and sepsis. Primary endpoints (length of stay and frequency of surgery) were compared between patients who received IV steroids upon admission and those who did not.Results Our analysis included 674 unique patients. Ninety-two (14%) received IV steroids, and 582 (86%) did not. IV steroid use did not result in shorter hospital stays (median days [IQR]: 3.0 (2.0-5.5) days vs 3.0 (2.0-6.0) days in the no-steroid group, P = .65) or reduce the need for surgery (4 patients (4.4%) vs 28 patients (4.8%) in the no-steroid group, P = .85). Sex, age, disease duration, concomitant biologic therapy, and NG tube placement did not independently contribute to either outcome.Conclusions These findings suggest that IV steroid administration for uncomplicated SBO in CD patients does not decrease hospital length of stay or need for surgery. Further research may help identify specific obstruction patterns or other therapies associated with different outcomes. Intravenous steroids, commonly administered upon hospital admission of Crohn's disease patients with acute small bowel obstruction, did not decrease the length of stay or need for surgery in a retrospective study (2011-2019) of admitted patients in the New York hospital system.