There is emerging evidence to suggest that Crohn's disease (CD) may be a disease of the mesentery rather than just of the bowel alone. A more extensive central mesenterectomy (up to the level of the ileocolic artery), in order to remove an increased volume of affected mesentery to prevent postoperative CD, has been suggested to lead to beneficial results. It is hypothesised that patients who undergo a central mesenterectomy during an ileocolic resection compared to a mesenteric sparing ileocolic resection will have decreased recurrence rates.
The aim of this multicenter randomised controlled trial is to analyse the six month endoscopic recurrence following a mesenteric sparing versus a central mesenterectomy performing an ileocolic resection for CD.