Early Biologic Treatment Decreases Risk of Surgery in Crohn's Disease but not in Ulcerative Colitis: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Background And Aims: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) can lead to long-term complications that significantly impact patients' quality of life and healthcare resource utilization. Prior studies have demonstrated improved short-term outcomes to early exposure of biologics in patients with Crohn's disease (CD) but not in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC). However, there are conflicting data on impact of early intervention on longer-term adverse events.