Steroids and Postoperative Complications in IBD

Corticosteroids are frequently used in the management of Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Although they can be very useful, their potential adverse effects have to be kept in mind. One of the situations in which these drugs should be avoided, if possible, is the perioperative setting. If a patient reaches surgery while on steroids, surgical complications will be more likely to occur, both infectious and non-infectious. Attention should be paid to this fact, within a multidisciplinary approach, that also takes into account other factors, such as nutrition.