Mucosal healing in inflammatory bowel disease: where do we stand?

The definition of remission in Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis has evolved to include mucosal healing as a measure of treatment efficacy. Randomized, controlled trials have demonstrated mucosal healing is attainable with the current arsenal of therapies available to treat inflammatory bowel disease. Mucosal healing has been shown to reduce the likelihood of clinical relapse, reduce the risk of future surgeries, and reduce hospitalizations. This review focuses on the latest studies addressing clinical outcomes of mucosal healing in the clinical trial and practice setting.