Background In third world countries helminth infections are epidemic. The prevalence of inflammatory bowel disease is lower in these countries than in developed countries. This has lead scientists to explore the possibility that helminth infections may protect humans from inflammatory bowel disease and other autoimmune diseases. Trichuris suis is a porcine whipworm, and humans are not its natural host. Inflammatory bowel disease is a chronic, autoimmune disease. This paper reviews the literature on Trichuris suis as a treatment in inflammatory bowel disease. Methods This is a literature study and the search engines used were PubMed and Cochrane with relevant and different keywords. Results There are only two randomized, controlled trials (RCT) on Trichuris suis and inflammatory bowel disease. One RCT assessed the efficacy and safety of Trichuris suis as treatment for ulcerative colitis and the other assessed safety and tolerability in patients with Crohn's disease. The first trial showed improvement with ova treatment compared to the placebo group. There were no serious side effects. The other trial showed that doses up to 7500 ova was well tolerated and there were no serious side effects. Studies on Trichuris suis therapy for other diseases showed increased incidence of mild gastrointestinal side effects. Discussion The studies show promising results. Several new trials are in progress. However, there is currently insufficient evidence that Trichuris suis therapy is an effective and safe treatment for inflammatory bowel disease and more research is needed.