Sulphasalazine in asymptomatic Crohn's disease. A multicentre trial.

During a six year period 43 patients with Crohns disease were included in a double-blind controlled trial of sulphasalazine given for one year as a possible treatment for reducing the relapse rate after resection or in asymptomatic patients with established disease. No trend in favour of sulphasalazine over the control group was observed. The difficulties of such a trial due to the small number of patients entered from nine hospitals, the varied nature of the disease, and the high incidence of complications, such as intraperitoneal abscess formation, are discussed.