Search

Background The best management after ileocolonic resection is still unknown in Crohn’s disease (CD). We compared step-up and top-down approaches to prevent short and long-term postoperative recurrences in CD patients. Methods From a comprehensive database, consecutive CD patients who underwent intestinal resection (2014-2021) were included. Top-down (biologics started within the first month after surgery) or step-up strategies (no biologic between surgery and colonoscopy at 6 months) were performed with systematic colonoscopy at 6 months and therapeutic escalation if Rutgeerts index was ≥i2a (endoscopic postoperative recurrence). Propensity score analysis was applied for each comparison. Results Among 115 CD patients, top-down was the most effective strategy to prevent endoscopic postoperative recurrence (46.8% vs 65.9%, P = .042) and to achieve complete endoscopic remission (Rutgeerts index = i0; 45.3% vs 19.3%; P = .004) at 6 months. We did not observe any significant difference between the 2 groups regarding clinical postoperative recurrence (hazard ratio [HR], .86 [0.44-1.66], P = .66) and progression of bowel damage (HR, 0.81 [0.63-1.06], P = .12). Endoscopic postoperative recurrence at 6 months was associated with increased risk of clinical postoperative recurrence (HR, 1.97 [1.07-3.64], P 0.029) and progression of bowel damage (HR, 3.33 [1.23-9.02], P = .018). Among the subgroup without endoscopic postoperative recurrence at 6 months, the risks of clinical postoperative recurrence and progression of bowel damage were significantly improved in the top-down group (HR, 0.59 [0.37-0.94], P = .025; and HR, 0.73 [0.63-0.83], P < .001, respectively). Conclusions Top-down strategy should be the preferred management to prevent short and long-term postoperative recurrence in CD.

International audience; Background: Inflammatory complications including chronic refractory pouchitis and Crohn's disease (CD)-like complications of the pouch are common complications after ileal pouch-anal anastomosis (IPAA) following colectomy for ulcerative colitis (UC). We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the efficacy of anti-TNF therapy in distinguishing patients with chronic refractory pouchitis from those with CD-like complications of the pouch. Methods: We performed a systematic literature search to identify articles and abstracts reporting anti-TNF agents efficacy in treating inflammatory complications of the pouch after IPAA for UC. Short-term and long-term remissions were evaluated at 8 weeks 95% CI[5-10] and 12 months 95% CI[12-18.5], respectively. Results: We identified 21 articles and 3 abstracts including 313 patients treated either with infliximab (n = 194) or adalimumab (n = 119) for inflammatory complications of the pouch. The rates of short-term and long-term clinical remission were 0.50 (95% CI [0.37-0.63]; I-2 = 0.57) and 0.52 (95% CI[0.39-0.65]; I-2 = 0.59), respectively. The rate of remission after anti-TNF induction therapy seemed to be higher in CD-like complications of the pouch 0.64 (95% CI[0.5-0.77]; I-2 = 0.18), compared to refractory pouchitis 0.10 (95% CI [0.00-0.35]; I-2 = 0.00) (P = 0.06), whereas no such difference appeared after long-term maintenance therapy 0.57 (95% CI[0.43-0.71]; I-2 = 0.32) and 0.37 (95% CI [0.14-0.62]; I-2 = 0.47), respectively (P = 0.57). Sensitivity analyses suggested no difference in outcomes. No significant publication bias has been detected. Conclusion: Anti-TNF agents have a clear trend to have higher and faster efficacy in CD-like complications of the pouch compared to refractory pouchitis, highlighting the need to differentiate these two entities both in daily practice and clinical trials.