Crohn’s disease is a chronic inflammatory condition affecting the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Unlike ulcerative colitis, which typically impacts only the colon, Crohn’s disease can affect any segment of the GI tract, from the mouth to the colon. However, it most commonly occurs at the end of the small intestine (ileum) and the beginning of the colon. If you're experiencing symptoms or have concerns about Crohn's disease, reach out to Dr. Albert Chung, a colorectal specialist based in Santa Margarita, serving patients throughout Orange County. Call our colorectal clinic today at (714) 988-8690 for expert-level, compassionate care.
Crohn's disease is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that can affect any part of the digestive tract, from the mouth to the anus. It most often involves the end of the small intestine and the beginning of the colon. Like ulcerative colitis, it follows a pattern of flares and remissions, with inflammation that can extend through the full thickness of the bowel wall. While the exact cause remains unclear, experts believe genetic predisposition, immune system dysfunction, and environmental triggers all play a role. Dietary habits and stress can aggravate symptoms but do not directly cause the disease.
Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis are both forms of IBD, and they share many symptoms. The differences matter clinically. Crohn's can affect any part of the digestive tract, with patches of inflammation separated by healthy tissue (often called "skip lesions"). The inflammation can extend through the entire bowel wall, which is why Crohn's more commonly causes strictures, fistulas, and abscesses.
Ulcerative colitis, by contrast, affects only the colon and rectum with continuous inflammation limited to the bowel's inner lining. Another key difference: surgery does not cure Crohn's. Inflammation can return in previously unaffected areas of the GI tract, even after a segment is removed.
Crohn's symptoms vary widely from mild to severe depending on where inflammation occurs and how active the disease is. Common signs include:
Perianal Crohn's disease is common and can cause additional symptoms including anal pain, drainage, skin tags, fistulas, and abscesses. Crohn's can also produce symptoms outside the digestive tract, including joint pain, eye inflammation, and skin problems. These can appear alongside GI symptoms or sometimes before them.
The exact cause of Crohn's disease remains unclear, but several factors influence risk.
At your initial consultation, Dr. Chung will thoroughly discuss your symptoms, lifestyle, and medical history to build a complete picture of your condition. Diagnostic testing confirms Crohn's and distinguishes it from other conditions like ulcerative colitis, IBS, or infection.
Treatment focuses on inducing and maintaining remission, reducing inflammation, healing the GI tract, and improving quality of life. Dr. Chung will tailor your plan to your symptoms, disease location, and severity.
When surgery is the right answer, the specific approach depends on what the disease is doing and where. Dr. Chung will walk you through the options.
Perianal Crohn's disease often requires specific procedures for fistulas and abscesses. Dr. Chung has particular expertise in this area, which can meaningfully improve day-to-day quality of life.
Crohn's is a long-term condition that benefits from a long-term partnership with a care team. For patients on medical management, the goal is to achieve and maintain remission on the lowest effective dose of medication, with regular monitoring to catch flares early.
After surgical treatment, detailed aftercare instructions and follow-up visits help ensure a smooth recovery. Most patients return to regular activities and experience meaningful symptom relief. Because Crohn's can recur in new areas, ongoing medical therapy is often continued after surgery to reduce that risk.
Roughly one in four people with Crohn's disease develops perianal disease at some point, and for many it is the most disruptive part of the illness. It shows up as recurrent abscesses, fistulas that drain and re-form, deep painful fissures, and large edematous skin tags. Perianal Crohn's is also where a colorectal surgeon and a gastroenterologist need to work together most closely, because neither drugs alone nor surgery alone controls it well.
The approach Dr. Chung uses follows the pattern that has the best evidence: drain any abscess promptly, place a loose seton to keep complex fistulas draining and prevent new abscesses, get the inflammation under control with a biologic (most often an anti-TNF agent) in partnership with your gastroenterologist, and reserve definitive fistula repair, whether advancement flap or FiLaC laser closure, for tracts that have quieted down. Aggressive fistulotomy is avoided in Crohn's because the tissue heals poorly and the risk to continence is higher. Skin tags are generally left alone unless they cause real hygiene problems, since surgical wounds in inflamed perianal tissue can be slow to heal. See the anal fistula and abscess page for the full range of techniques.
Most Crohn's disease is managed by a gastroenterologist, and Dr. Chung works alongside several across Orange County. A surgeon becomes part of the team when a complication needs a procedure, when medication has stopped working for a segment of bowel, or when a patient wants to understand what surgery would involve before committing to a long medication course. Common reasons for referral include a stricture causing obstructive symptoms, a fistula between bowel and skin, bladder, or another loop of bowel, an abscess inside the abdomen, perianal disease, and dysplasia or cancer found on surveillance colonoscopy. Seeing the surgeon early, before an emergency, means the operation can be planned, done minimally invasively, and timed around your medications and nutrition.
Dr. Chung sees Crohn's patients from across Orange County for perianal disease, surgical consultation, and second opinions, and coordinates directly with their gastroenterologists so that medical and surgical treatment are planned together rather than in sequence.
Dr. Chung sees patients at 30212 Tomas, Suite 365, Rancho Santa Margarita, CA 92688, off the 241 toll road in South Orange County. Patients come from Mission Viejo, Lake Forest, Irvine, Laguna Hills, Laguna Niguel, Aliso Viejo, San Juan Capistrano, Ladera Ranch, Trabuco Canyon, Santa Ana, and across Orange County. Most new patients are seen within days, and a first visit usually includes the exam, a plain-language explanation, and a treatment plan the same day.
Not ready for an in-person visit? Dr. Chung also offers online video consultations. Read what patients say on the reviews page.
No. Crohn's is a chronic condition, and unlike ulcerative colitis, removing the affected bowel does not cure it because inflammation can return elsewhere. Modern medications, particularly biologics, keep most patients in remission for long periods, and surgery resolves complications when they arise.
No, though about two thirds of patients need at least one operation over their lifetime, usually for a stricture, fistula, or abscess. Surgery is used to fix a specific problem rather than to treat the disease overall, and medication typically continues afterward.
Diet does not cause Crohn's, but it affects symptoms. During flares, low-residue, low-fat, and lactose-limited eating often helps. Between flares, a varied diet with adequate protein and calories supports healing. Nutritional deficiencies of iron, B12, vitamin D, and zinc are common and are checked and corrected as part of care.
A gastroenterologist manages medication and performs surveillance colonoscopy. A colorectal surgeon treats complications that need a procedure: abscess drainage, fistula surgery, strictureplasty, bowel resection, and perianal disease. Most patients are best served by both working together.
A seton is a soft loop of material threaded through the fistula tract and left in place. It keeps the tract open so infection drains rather than forming an abscess, without cutting any sphincter muscle. In Crohn's disease a loose seton is often left for months while biologic therapy calms the inflammation, after which it can be removed or the fistula repaired.
Most Crohn's operations reconnect the bowel in the same procedure. A temporary stoma is used when the bowel is too inflamed or the patient too unwell for a safe join, and is reversed later. A permanent stoma is uncommon and is generally reserved for severe perianal or rectal disease that has not responded to other treatment.
Whether you're newly diagnosed, working through a flare, dealing with perianal disease, or considering surgery, Dr. Chung can help you build a plan that fits your disease and your life.
Book a consultation Call (714) 988-8690Crohn’s disease currently has no definitive cure; however, effective management and treatment can significantly improve symptoms and quality of life.
Surgery is not always necessary and is usually reserved for severe cases or complications that cannot be managed effectively with medication and lifestyle changes.
Dietary changes significantly reduce inflammation, prevent flare-ups, and improve digestive health. Dr. Chung will offer specific dietary recommendations tailored to your individual needs.
Prompt diagnosis and treatment greatly improve colorectal cancer outcomes. Call Dr. Albert Chung’s colorectal clinic in Orange County.
