Effectiveness of concomitant enteral nutrition therapy and infliximab for maintenance treatment of Crohn's disease in adults.

Background: One of the problems associated with infliximab (IFX) treatment for Crohn's disease (CD) is loss of response during maintenance therapy.

Aims: The aim of this multicenter, retrospective, cohort study was to determine whether enteral nutrition (EN) added to the IFX therapy regimen is effective for maintaining remission in adult CD patients.

Methods: Patients with CD who had started IFX therapy between April 2003 and March 2008 at any one of the seven participating medical centers and who met the following inclusion criteria were enrolled in the study: remission after triple infusions of IFX followed by IFX maintenance therapy every 8 weeks, and follow-up data available for ≥ 1 year.