Wolthuis, Albert M.

Abstract Aim Recent evidence challenges the current standard of offering surgery to patients with ileocaecal Crohn's disease (CD) only when they present complications of the disease. The aim of this study was to compare short‐term results of patients who underwent primary ileocaecal resection for either inflammatory (luminal disease, earlier in the disease course) or complicated phenotypes, hypothesizing that the latter would be associated with worse postoperative outcomes. Method A retrospective, multicentre comparative analysis was performed including patients operated on for primary ileocaecal CD at 12 referral centres. Patients were divided into two groups according to indication of surgery for inflammatory (ICD) or complicated (CCD) phenotype. Short‐term results were compared. Results A total of 2013 patients were included, with 291 (14.5%) in the ICD group. No differences were found between the groups in time from diagnosis to surgery. CCD patients had higher rates of low body mass index, anaemia (40.9% vs. 27%, p < 0.001) and low albumin (11.3% vs. 2.6%, p < 0.001). CCD patients had longer operations, lower rates of laparoscopic approach (84.3% vs. 93.1%, p = 0.001) and higher conversion rates (9.3% vs. 1.9%, p < 0.001). CCD patients had a longer hospital stay and higher postoperative complication rates (26.1% vs. 21.3%, p = 0.083). Anastomotic leakage and reoperations were also more frequent in this group. More patients in the CCD group required an extended bowel resection (14.1% vs. 8.3%, p : 0.017). In multivariate analysis, CCD was associated with prolonged surgery (OR 3.44, p = 0.001) and the requirement for multiple intraoperative procedures (OR 8.39, p = 0.030). Conclusion Indication for surgery in patients who present with an inflammatory phenotype of CD was associated with better outcomes compared with patients operated on for complications of the disease. There was no difference between groups in time from diagnosis to surgery.

AbstractAimThe Cleveland Clinic has proposed a prognostic model of preoperative risk factors for failure of restorative proctocolectomy (RPC) with ileal pouch–anal anastomosis. The model incorporates four predictive variables: completion proctectomy, handsewn anastomosis, diabetes mellitus and Crohn's disease. The aim of the present study was to perform an external validation of this model in a new cohort of patients who had RPC.MethodValidation was performed in a multicentre cohort of 747 consecutive patients who had an RPC between 1990 and 2015 in three tertiary‐care facilities, using a Kaplan–Meier survival analysis and Cox regression analysis. The performance of the model was expressed using the Harrell concordance error rate. The primary outcome measure was pouch survival with maintenance of anal function.ResultsDuring the study period, 45 (6.0%) patients experienced failure at a median interval of 31 months (interquartile range 9–82 months) from the original RPC. Multivariable analysis showed handsewn anastomosis to be the only significant independent predictor. The Harrell concordance error rate was 0.42, indicating poor performance. Anastomotic leakage and Crohn's disease of the pouch were strong postoperative predictors for pouch failure and showed a significant difference in pouch survival after 10 years (P < 0.001).ConclusionThe poor performance of the Cleveland Clinic prognostic model makes it unsuitable for daily clinical practice. Handsewn anastomosis was associated with pouch failure in our cohort with relatively few events. A prediction model for anastomotic leakage or Crohn's disease of the pouch may be a better solution since these variables are strongly associated with pouch failure.