Risk factors of diagnostic delay of Crohn′s disease and their impact on prognosis

With the rise of the incidence of Crohn′s disease, clinicians began to recognize and pay attention to this disease. There is no effective method to cure the Crohn′s disease currently, and the complications of the Crohn′s disease are numerous and complex. Therefore, early diagnosis and treatment are very important. Due to many factors, the problem of diagnostic delay is widespread. Female patients diagnosed younger than 40 years old, the presence of ileal disease, use of nonsteroidal antiinflammatory agents, smoking history, parental symptoms are risk factors of diagnostic delay of Crohn′s disease. Delayed diagnosis might increase the risk of complications, especially intestinal stenosis and operationrelated complications. Crohn′s disease needs to be early diagnosed and treated to improve the prognosis of patients.