Short and medium term results of the surgical management of ileocecal Crohn's disease

Abstract

The treatment of Crohn's disease (CD) is based on medical therapy and surgery is reserved for failure of medical management or complications. To evaluate endoscopic, clinical, and surgical recurrence of CD after surgery. In a prospectively maintained database, consecutive patients older than 15 years subjected to an ileocecal resection for ileocolic disease from January 2011 to April 2021, were identified. The diagnosis of CD was confirmed with the pathologic report. Patients with less than one year of follow-up were excluded. Information was obtained retrospectively from the database and clinical records. Fourteen patients were identified. The mean age at the time of surgery was 38 years. Surgery was performed at a median of 41.5 months (0-300) after the diagnosis of CD, nine elective and five emergency procedures. In five patients there were four major and two minor postoperative complications, with no anastomotic leakage. Six patients had endoscopic recurrence and seven had clinical recurrence (50%) at a mean of 15 months, one of whom required a second operation. There was no mortality. After the surgical treatment of CD, the clinical and endoscopic recurrence rate continues to be high.