Blesl A, Binder L, Högenauer C, et al. - In the present study, the researchers sought to evaluate the length of treatment persistence of first anti-TNF therapy and influencing factors used in the standard care of patients with inflammatory bowel diseases. They carried out an investigator-initiated, retrospective, single-centre, real-world study including patients with inflammatory bowel diseases who began anti-TNF therapy between 1999 and 2020. Participants in the study were 538 patients (CD, Crohn's disease: 367, UC, ulcerative colitis: 147, inflammatory bowel disease unclassified: 24) with a median follow-up of 8.1 years. Female sex was found to be an independent predictor of treatment failure in UC. Long-term treatment persistence of first anti-TNF therapy in patients with inflammatory bowel disease was limited, owing primarily to treatment failure and side effects. Surgery rates remained high in patients with CD and UC despite the use of anti-TNF antibodies.