Treatment of Crohns Disease in Israel

Crohn's disease is a severe recurrent inflammatory bowel disease. It can affect any part of the gastrointestinal tract. The pathology leads to severe bleeding, the formation of intestinal stenosis and fistulas (pathological pathways). It is difficult to treat the disease conservatively. It often requires a surgical intervention. You can receive high-level medical care for Crohn's disease in one of the leading clinics in Israel.

Conservative treatment

Unfortunately, the disease cannot be cured completely with the help of drug therapy. The therapy pursues the following goals: 

• Achievement of the remission without the need for continuous administration of glucocorticoids
• Prevention of complications
• Prevention or delay of the surgery 
• Relief of clinical manifestations

To provide drug therapy, doctors use glucocorticoids, antibiotics, salicylates, and medications that suppress the immune system. The symptomatic drugs are used to eliminate anemia, water-electrolyte imbalance, prevent osteoporosis and relieve pain.

Biological therapy

It is effective even with refractory (not treatable) forms of the disease. In 30% of cases, the pathology acquires a continuous recurrent course. Every third case of the disease does not respond to corticosteroid therapy, or the symptoms worsen sharply after the drugs are canceled. Some patients are even resistant to immunosuppressive drugs, which leads to severe complications.

Approximately 40% of patients have a need for biological therapy, including cell therapy. Doctors use monoclonal antibodies and autologous mesenchymal stem cells. This results in:

• Reversal of the attack of Crohn's disease
• Increased duration of remission
• Overcoming refractoriness to steroids

In many cases, the biological therapy used in the clinics in Israel is effective even in patients who do not respond to other treatment methods, including immunosuppressive therapy.

Surgical treatment

A decision on the need for surgery is made if other methods do not work or complications develop in patients with Crohn's disease. A delay in development in children with this pathology is always considered an indication for surgery.

Emergency surgery is performed in patients with:

• Intestinal bleeding
• Toxic dilatation of the colon
• Intestinal perforation

In patients with chronic complications of the disease, surgery is most often performed for intestinal strictures (narrowing), the formation of fistulas, infiltration in the abdominal cavity or malignancy (the development of cancer due to the inflammatory disease).

The most common operation in patients with Crohn's disease is bowel resection. In Israel, this surgical procedure is minimally invasive. A doctor forms an anastomosis: connects the ends of the intestine to ensure normal digestion and fecal diversion. Sometimes surgeons have to resort to the formation of a colostomy. This is a temporary option that is used in patients with severe concomitant diseases and pregnant women.

Some clinics in Israel treat not prolonged stenosis using the endoscopic dilatation. Such an operation has a lower cost, is safer for health, and does not require incisions on the abdomen. However, this surgery may be connected with a higher risk of relapse.

The upper parts of the gastrointestinal tract are often affected by multiple strictures and interintestinal fistulas. Doctors form a bypass anastomosis, perform stricturoplasty and remove the affected areas of the intestine. The gastroduodenal strictures, which usually develop in the area of the duodenum, can be cured with balloon dilatation.

What clinics can offer treatment?

You can undergo an effective and safe treatment of diseases of the digestive system in one of the clinics in Israel. Crohn's disease is treated here by experienced gastroenterologists and surgeons. The hospitals in Israel have the very latest therapeutic approaches, which allow to cope even with the most severe cases of the disease. Here are the main clinics where you can get medical care.

• Rabin Medical Center. The hospital has a specialized unit that deals with the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease. It has achieved significant success in the fight against Crohn's disease. Patients with this pathology receive drug treatment. The pathology can lead to complications, and in such situations, surgery may be required. The unit is headed by Prof. Iris Dotan, a gastroenterologist of the highest category. She is one of the best specialists in the treatment of Crohn's disease in the world.
• Rambam Health Care Campus. The hospital provides high-quality diagnostics. Crohn's disease can simulate other diseases, as it is similar to them in clinical manifestations. The specialists of the Rambam Health Care Campus establish the correct diagnosis using colonoscopy, capsular endoscopy. The hospital uses virtual colonoscopy – a method that is much better tolerated by patients, since it does not require the insertion of an instrument into the intestine.
• Assuta Hospital. It treats inflammatory bowel disease with the very latest immunosuppressive drugs, antibiotics, anti-inflammatory and symptomatic agents. Biological (anticytokine) therapy is used. If necessary, laparoscopic surgery can be performed.
• Sheba Medical Center. Crohn's disease is treated at the Institute of Gastroenterology. It specializes in diseases of the gastrointestinal tract and is the largest medical center in this field of medicine. It employs not only gastroenterologists, but also nutritionists, psychologists, radiologists, and psychologists. The Institute of Gastroenterology may annually admit up to 40 thousand patients, performs 15 thousand endoscopic procedures. The institute includes a Clinic for Inflammatory Bowel Disease, which deals with the treatment of Crohn's disease. The head of the department, Prof. Ben-Horin, is a member of the Research Board of the European Crohn's and Colitis Organisation (ECCO).
• Hadassah Medical Center. It specializes in the surgical treatment of Crohn's disease. This disease is always initially treated using medication. It usually allows to achieve the remission and reduce the main symptoms, restore the function of the gastrointestinal tract. However, 75% of patients sooner or later need a surgical intervention. Doctors at the Hadassah Medical Center perform minimally invasive removal of a problem part of the intestine affected by the inflammatory disease. The operation allows a patient to completely abandon the drugs or reduce their doses, to achieve a stable remission of the disease. The hospital conducts emergency surgical interventions in case of complications, such as intestinal perforation or heavy bleeding.

What are the benefits of treatment in Israel?

The clinics in Israel treat inflammatory bowel disease not only in local residents, but also in medical tourists. The main benefits of treatment of Crohn's disease in this country are:

• Leading gastroenterologists of Israel are considered one of the best specialists in the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease in the world
• Israel offers new treatment methods, including biological therapy and stem cell use
• Minimally invasive, safe operations with a short recovery period
• Prescription of effective anti-relapse therapy, which avoids repeated intestinal inflammation for 5-10 years or more
• Low cost of medical services

Where to seek help from?

To undergo treatment of Crohn’s disease in Israel, you can use the Booking Health service. On our portal you can get information about prices, compare the cost of medical services in different hospitals, book treatment in Israel at the best price. Booking Health specialists will arrange your trip to Israel. We offer the following services and benefits:

• Selection of the hospital for treatment in Israel, which achieves the best results in the treatment of Crohn's disease
• Selection of the most suitable dates for treatment in Israel
• Reduced cost of treatment in Israel – the price is reduced due to avoiding additional coefficients for foreign patients
• Control over the cost of medical services in Israel, return of unspent funds after the completion of the program
• Direct communication with the doctor
• Preparation of a medical program without the need to repeat previously performed diagnostic tests
• Buying and forwarding medicines
• Communication with the hospital after the completion of the medical program
• Organization of additional diagnostics, treatment or rehabilitation in Israel

Booking Health specialists provide high-quality services. We will book a hotel and airline tickets for you, meet you at the airport and take you to the hospital by car.