In partnership with the iPouch Consortium ✓ Evidence-based · PubMed-verified

iCrohnz.

A Crohn's disease surgery quality & community initiative — connecting surgeons, researchers, and patients to improve outcomes in Crohn's surgery. The Crohn's-surgery partner to the iPouch Consortium.

What we focus on → About the initiative
Overview

What is iCrohnz?

iCrohnz is an initiative focused on the surgical care of Crohn's disease — from ileocolic resection and strictureplasty to recurrence prevention and perianal disease. Modeled on the iPouch Consortium for pouch surgery, iCrohnz aims to bring surgeons, researchers, and patients together around better, more consistent Crohn's-surgery outcomes, shared data, and plain-language education.

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Get involved

iCrohnz is in development. If you're a surgeon, researcher, or patient advocate interested in Crohn's-surgery quality and community, reach out at webmaster@icrohnz.org.

Common questions

Frequently Asked Questions

Quick, plain-language answers to the questions we hear most.

What is iCrohnz?

iCrohnz is a Crohn's disease surgery quality and community initiative — bringing surgeons, researchers, and patients together to improve Crohn's-surgery outcomes, share data, and provide plain-language education.

How does iCrohnz relate to iPouch?

iCrohnz is the Crohn's-surgery partner to the iPouch Consortium. iPouch focuses on quality in ileal pouch-anal anastomosis (IPAA) surgery; iCrohnz applies the same community-and-quality model to Crohn's disease surgery.

Who is iCrohnz for?

Surgeons, gastroenterologists, researchers, and patients interested in Crohn's-disease surgical care — from bowel-sparing resection and recurrence prevention to perianal disease.

What we do

Focus Areas

Where iCrohnz aims to make a difference in Crohn's surgical care.

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Surgical quality & benchmarking

Measuring and comparing Crohn's-surgery outcomes across centers to raise the standard of care.

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Recurrence prevention

Smoking cessation, risk-stratified prophylaxis, and endoscopic surveillance (Rutgeerts) to keep disease from coming back after resection.

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Bowel-sparing surgery

Ileocolic resection, strictureplasty, and the Kono-S anastomosis — preserving bowel length and function.

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Perianal Crohn's

Coordinated, sphincter-sparing care for fistulas and abscesses — see pcrohns.org.

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Patient & provider community

Connecting people living with Crohn's and the teams who care for them around shared knowledge and support.

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Research & education

Translating evidence into practice and plain language — in step with Crohnsology and Crohnz.

Evidence-based

The Evidence Behind This Site

Every statement on icrohnz.org is grounded in the published medical literature. Below, the key points are grouped by topic and linked to the peer-reviewed studies that support them. Sources were retrieved from a curated Crohn's surgery research library and verified against the U.S. National Library of Medicine (PubMed); none are retracted. Last verified July 2026.

Bowel-Sparing Surgery

The Kono-S anastomosis reduces endoscopic recurrence after ileocolic resection for Crohn's.1–3

Strictureplasty preserves bowel length as an alternative to resection in small-bowel Crohn's.4–6

Ileocolic resection — increasingly minimally invasive — is a common operation for ileocolic Crohn's.7–9

Preventing Recurrence

Smoking cessation lowers the risk of recurrence after surgery for Crohn's.10–12

Endoscopic surveillance using the Rutgeerts score detects postoperative recurrence early.13–15

Risk-stratified prophylaxis helps prevent postoperative recurrence in Crohn's.16–18

Perianal Crohn's

Perianal Crohn's is managed with coordinated, sphincter-sparing care such as draining setons (see pcrohns.org).19, 20

References

  1. Luglio G, et al. Surgical Prevention of Anastomotic Recurrence by Excluding Mesentery in Crohn's Disease: The SuPREMe-CD Study - A Randomized Clinical Trial. Ann Surg. 2020;272(2):210-217. PMID: 32675483.
  2. Cathomas M, et al. Safety and effectivity of Kono-S anastomosis in Crohn's patients: a systematic review and Meta-analysis. Langenbecks Arch Surg. 2024;409(1):227. PMID: 39037448.
  3. Katsuno H, et al. Novel antimesenteric functional end-to-end handsewn (Kono-S) anastomoses for Crohn's disease: a report of surgical procedure and short-term outcomes. Dig Surg. 2015;32(1):39-44. PMID: 25678306.
  4. Reese GE, et al. Strictureplasty vs resection in small bowel Crohn's disease: an evaluation of short-term outcomes and recurrence. Colorectal Dis. 2007;9(8):686-94. PMID: 17854290.
  5. Roy P, Kumar D. Strictureplasty. Br J Surg. 2004;91(11):1428-37. PMID: 15499649.
  6. Ozuner G, et al. Reoperative rates for Crohn's disease following strictureplasty. Long-term analysis. Dis Colon Rectum. 1996;39(11):1199-203. PMID: 8918424.
  7. van der Does de Willebois EML, et al. Effect of mesenteric sparing or extended resection in primary ileocolic resection for Crohn's disease on postoperative endoscopic recurrence (SPICY): an international, randomised controlled trial. Lancet Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2024;9(9):793-801. PMID: 39025100.
  8. Soop M, et al. Safety, feasibility, and short-term outcomes of laparoscopically assisted primary ileocolic resection for Crohn's disease. Surg Endosc. 2009;23(8):1876-81. PMID: 19184211.
  9. Yoon YS, … Holubar SD, et al. When should we add a diverting loop ileostomy to laparoscopic ileocolic resection for primary Crohn's disease?. Surg Endosc. 2021;35(6):2543-2557. PMID: 32468260.
  10. Bolckmans R, et al. Does Smoking Cessation Reduce Surgical Recurrence After Primary Ileocolic Resection for Crohn's Disease?. Dis Colon Rectum. 2020;63(2):200-206. PMID: 31842162.
  11. Yamamoto T, Keighley MR. The association of cigarette smoking with a high risk of recurrence after ileocolonic resection for ileocecal Crohn's disease. Surg Today. 1999;29(6):579-80. PMID: 10385380.
  12. Ferrante M, et al. Results of the Eighth Scientific Workshop of ECCO: Prevention and Treatment of Postoperative Recurrence in Patients With Crohn's Disease Undergoing an Ileocolonic Resection With Ileocolonic Anastomosis. J Crohns Colitis. 2023;17(11):1707-1722. PMID: 37070324.
  13. Bak MTJ, et al. Prognostic Value of the Modified Rutgeerts Score for Long-Term Outcomes After Primary Ileocecal Resection in Crohn's Disease. Am J Gastroenterol. 2024;119(2):306-312. PMID: 37737675.
  14. Marteau P, et al. Interobserver Variation Study of the Rutgeerts Score to Assess Endoscopic Recurrence after Surgery for Crohn's Disease. J Crohns Colitis. 2016;10(9):1001-5. PMID: 27068432.
  15. Pal P, Reddy DN, Rao GV. Endoscopic Assessment of Postoperative Recurrence in Crohn's Disease: Evolving Concepts. Gastrointest Endosc Clin N Am. 2025;35(1):121-140. PMID: 39510683.
  16. Buisson A, et al. Top-down Versus Step-up Strategies to Prevent Postoperative Recurrence in Crohn's Disease. Inflamm Bowel Dis. 2023;29(2):185-194. PMID: 35389489.
  17. Shah RS, … Holubar SD, et al. Real-World Surgical and Endoscopic Recurrence Based on Risk Profiles and Prophylaxis Utilization in Postoperative Crohn's Disease. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2024;22(4):847-857.e12. PMID: 37879523.
  18. Bachour SP, … Holubar SD, et al. Change in Biologic Class Promotes Endoscopic Remission Following Endoscopic Postoperative Crohn's Disease Recurrence. J Clin Gastroenterol. 2024;58(8):810-817. PMID: 38019054.
  19. White RA, et al. Seton management of complex anorectal fistulas in patients with Crohn's disease. Dis Colon Rectum. 1990;33(7):587-9. PMID: 1694476.
  20. Galis-Rozen E, et al. Long-term outcome of loose seton for complex anal fistula: a two-centre study of patients with and without Crohn's disease. Colorectal Dis. 2010;12(4):358-62. PMID: 19220385.

Compiled by IBDology. Citations are provided for transparency and education and are not a substitute for advice from your own care team.

About

About iCrohnz

iCrohnz is an evidence-based Crohn's-disease surgery quality-and-community initiative connecting surgeons, researchers, and patients to improve the outcomes of Crohn's surgery. It applies the same idea that drives our patient and provider sites — collapsing the ~17-year gap between publication and practice by focusing a “deep and narrow” AI on the newest Crohn's-surgery evidence — at the level of a collaborative, so that better data and shared best practices reach the operating room faster. It is the Crohn's-surgery partner to the iPouch Consortium and part of the IBDology family.

Stefan D. Holubar, MD, MS, FACS, FASCRS

This site was created by Stefan D. Holubar, MD, MS, FACS, FASCRS, Professor of Surgery at Cleveland Clinic and the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine & Case Western Reserve University. A fellowship-trained colorectal surgeon who specializes in inflammatory bowel disease—and, living with IBD and a J-pouch himself, a patient too—he brings both perspectives to this work. He is co-PI of the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation IBD-SIRCQ and the ACS-NSQIP IBD Collaborative, founder of the iPouch Consortium, and has authored over 300 peer-reviewed publications.

Dr. Holubar is an employee of Cleveland Clinic, and has the following disclosures: research funding from the American Society of Colon & Rectal Surgeons and the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation, and has no other disclosures or conflicts of interest.

View publications on PubMed →