Update in medical therapy in inflammatory bowel disease: a clinician's view.

Recent advances in the therapy of inflammatory bowel disease specifically directed against the inflammatory and immune mechanisms include an impressive and often overwhelming cornucopia of anti-inflammatory agents, immunomodulators, antibiotics, biologicals, topical therapies, nicotine, heparin, and nutritional supplements. The interface of one drug regimen into another may lead to confounding and often confusing programs of treatment. This review will attempt to offer a perspective of care and an update of specific remedies, but the aim is practicality and usefulness, not encyclopedic detail.