P586 Surgical recurrence in Crohn’s Disease: Can we prevent it?

Abstract

Abstract Background Crohn’s Disease (CD) is a chronic inflammatory disease primarily affecting the bowel. In the pre-biological era, approximately 40–50% of patients would undergo surgery within the first 2 decades after diagnosis, with a risk of postoperative recurrence up to 50% at 10 years. Although post-operative prophylaxis is recommended to prevent clinical and endoscopic recurrence, little is known about the factors associated with surgical recurrence. Methods Single-center, retrospective study including 992 patients with CD. Demographic and clinical data were retrieved from patients’ medical charts. Patients with 1 or more surgeries were selected for analysis, excluding perianal disease surgeries. Thiopurines and biologics were considered as prophylaxis for surgical recurrence only if initiated within the first year after surgery. A logistic regression analysis was performed to evaluate potential predictors of surgery recurrence. Results Three hundred and nine patients (31.1%) required at least one surgery during follow-up. Two hundred and twenty-four patients (72.5%) underwent a single surgery and 85 (27.5%) required two or more interventions. Patients with surgical recurrence were younger [31 (23–36) vs 34 years (24–44), p=0.009], and had lower rates of prophylaxis with thiopurines (23.5% vs 37.5%, p=0.013), and anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF) agents (8.2% vs 22.3%, p=0.002) compared with patients without surgical recurrence. Multivariate analysis identified stricturing and penetrating phenotype as risk factor for surgical recurrence (OR 2.292 95%CI [1.500–3.502], p<0.001]). Likewise, older age (OR 0.949 95%CI [0.94–0.996], p=0.034), and prophylaxis with anti-TNFs (OR 0.309 95% [0.126–0.754], p=0.01) were protective factors against surgical recurrence. Twenty-five patients (29.4%) developed a second surgical recurrence. Patients with more than one surgical recurrence had lower utilization of thiopurines (16% vs 45%, p=0.009) and anti-TNFs (0% vs 26.7%, p=0.002). Conclusion Our findings suggest that postoperative prophylaxis with immunosuppressants, especially anti-TNFs, significantly reduces the risk of surgical recurrence. Postoperative prophylaxis should be implemented in high-risk patients, especially younger patients and those with a non-inflammatory phenotype.