During an 11-year period, 41 patients with Crohn's disease were placed on home parenteral nutrition (HPN) for a mean of 1,083 days (range: 33 to 3,258 days). Data were retrospectively analyzed to determine whether HPN had an effect on the course of their disease, i.e., on the number of operative procedures performed and the intensity of required medical therapy. Data represented information obtained during a total of 121 patient-years of HPN for Crohn's disease. The main indications for HPN were short bowel syndrome (66%) and high stoma output. Twenty-four of 41 patients (59%) underwent surgery for Crohn's disease during the course of HPN. There was no significant difference between the number of procedures performed per patient per year of Crohn's disease during pre-HPN and HPN periods (p greater than 0.25). Although there was no significant change in body weight, both serum albumin and transferrin levels increased during HPN (p less than 0.01 and p less than 0.01, respectively). Twenty-nine percent of patients were taking prednisone while on HPN, compared with 54% of patients during the pre-HPN period (p less than 0.01). HPN appeared to result in a significant improvement in the numerically assessed quality of life. During the HPN period, 24 patients had 1 or more HPN-related complications that required 1 to 13 hospital admissions (mean: 1.8). These complications included catheter sepsis in 19 patients, blocked or damaged catheters in 15 patients, and dehydration and/or electrolyte imbalance in 5 patients. Eight patients died, with 7% of deaths secondary to catheter-related sepsis. Although permanent HPN is associated with an identifiable morbidity and mortality and is not associated with a reduction in the frequency of surgery for Crohn's disease, benefits include a decrease in the intensity of medical therapy, an improvement in patients' nutritional state, and a significant perceived improvement in patients' quality of life. Without HPN, we believe all patients would have died secondary to malnutrition and/or dehydration.