Preoperative optimization of Crohn's disease

Surgical Management of Small Bowel Crohn's Disease

Crohn's disease in the small bowel could present itself as an inflammatory stricture, a fibrotic stricture as penetrating disease or a combination of both. It is pertinent to differentiate the disease process as well as its extent to effectively manage the disease. Currently, a combination of medical and surgical therapies forms part of the treatment plan while the debate of which therapy is better continues. In managing the strictures, identification of the disease process through imaging plays a pivotal role as inflammatory strictures respond to anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and biological agents, while fibrotic strictures require endoscopic or surgical intervention. Recent evidence suggests a larger role for surgical excision, particularly in ileocolic disease, while achieving a balance between disease clearance and bowel preservation. Several adaptations to the surgical technique, such as wide mesenteric excision, side to side or Kono-S anastomosis, and long-term metronidazole therapy, are being undertaken even though their absolute benefit is yet to be determined. Penetrating disease requires a broader multidisciplinary approach with a particular focus on nutrition, skincare, and intestinal failure management. The current guidance directs toward early surgical intervention for penetrating disease when feasible. Accurate preoperative imaging, medical management of active diseases, and surgical decision-making based on experience and evidence play a key role in success.

Kidney transplantation in patients with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD): analysis of transplantation outcome and IBD activity

Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) is a systemic disorder with possible renal involvement, yet data regarding the outcome of kidney transplantation (KT) in those patients, and IBD course post KT, are scarce. In this retrospective analysis, we studied the outcome of 12 IBD kidney recipients (seven Crohn's disease, five ulcerative colitis; primary kidney disease was IgA nephropathy in five, polycystic disease in four), compared to two control groups: matched controls and a cohort of recipients with similar kidney disease. During a follow-up period of 60.1 (11.0-76.6) months (median, interquartile range), estimated 5-year survival was 80.8 vs. 96.8%, with and without IBD, respectively (P = 0.001). Risk of death with a functioning graft was higher with IBD (HR = 1.441, P = 0.048), and with increased age (HR = 1.109, P = 0.05). Late rehospitalization rate was higher in IBD [incidence rate ratio = 1.168, P = 0.030], as well as rate of hospitalization related to infection [1.42, P = 0.037]. All patients that were in remission before KT, remission was maintained. Patients that were transplanted with mild or moderate disease remained stable or improved with Infliximab or Adalimumab treatment. In conclusion, IBD is associated with an increased risk of mortality, hospitalization because of infection and late rehospitalization after KT. Clinical course of IBD is stable after KT.

The Association of Coloproctology of Great Britain and Ireland consensus guidelines in surgery for inflammatory bowel disease

AIM

There is a requirement of an expansive and up to date review of surgical management of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that can dovetail with the medical guidelines produced by the British Society of Gastroenterology.

METHODS

Surgeons who are members of the ACPGBI with a recognised interest in IBD were invited to contribute various sections of the guidelines. They were directed to produce a procedure based document using literature searches that were systematic, comprehensible, transparent and reproducible. Levels of evidence were graded. An editorial board was convened to ensure consistency of style, presentation and quality. Each author was asked to provide a set of recommendations which were evidence based and unambiguous. These recommendations were submitted to the whole guideline group and scored. They were then refined and submitted to a second vote. Only those that achieved >80% consensus at level 5 (strongly agree) or level 4 (agree) after 2 votes were included in the guidelines.

RESULTS

All aspects of surgical care for IBD have been included along with 157 recommendations for management.

CONCLUSION

These guidelines provide an up to date and evidence based summary of the current surgical knowledge in the management of IBD and will serve as a useful practical text for clinicians performing this type of surgery.

Malnutrition increases the risk of 30-day complications after surgery in pediatric patients with Crohn disease

BACKGROUND

Pediatric patients with Crohn disease (CD) are frequently malnourished, yet how this affects surgical outcomes has not been evaluated. This study aims to determine the effects of malnourishment in children with CD on 30-day outcomes after surgery.

STUDY DESIGN

The ACS NSQIP-Pediatric database from 2012 to 2015 was used to select children aged 5-18 with CD who underwent bowel surgery. BMI-for-age Z-scores were calculated based on CDC growth charts and 2015 guidelines of pediatric malnutrition were applied to categorize severity of malnutrition into none, mild, moderate, or severe. Malnutrition's effects on 30-day complications. Propensity weighted multivariable regression was used to determine the effect of malnutrition on complications were evaluated.

RESULTS

516 patients were included: 349 (67.6%) without malnutrition, 97 (18.8%) with mild, 49 (9.5%) with moderate, and 21 (4.1%) with severe malnutrition. There were no differences in demographics, ASA class, or elective/urgent case type. Overall complication rate was 13.6% with malnutrition correlating to higher rates: none 9.7%, mild 18.6%, moderate 20.4%, and severe 28.6% (p < 0.01). In propensity-matched, multivariable analysis, malnutrition corresponded with increased odds of complications in mild and severely malnourished patients (mild OR = 2.1 [p = 0.04], severe OR 3.26 [p = 0.03]).

CONCLUSION

Worsening degrees of malnutrition directly correlate with increasing risk of 30-day complications in children with CD undergoing major bowel surgery. These findings support BMI for-age z scores as an important screening tool for preoperatively identifying pediatric CD patients at increased risk for postoperative complications. Moreover, these scores can guide nutritional optimization efforts prior to elective surgery.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

IV.

Factors Associated with Short-Term Morbidity in Patients Undergoing Colon Resection for Crohn's Disease

BACKGROUND

Patients undergoing colon resection for Crohn's disease are at risk of developing postoperative complications. The aim of this study is to identify factors associated with short-term (30-day) morbidity in patients undergoing colon resection for Crohn's disease from a national database.

METHODS

Patients who underwent colon resection for Crohn's disease in 2015 were identified from the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS-NSQIP) database. The groups were classified based on presence of postoperative 30-day complications. The overall morbidity was calculated by including patients who had at least one postoperative complication. Demographics, preoperative, and operative factors were assessed and compared between the two groups. Further multivariate logistic regression analysis was conducted.

RESULTS

A total of 1643 patients met the inclusion criteria [mean age of 41.2 (± 15.5) years, 871 (53%) female]. Sixty percent (n = 993) of the procedures were performed laparoscopically and 128 (12.8%) cases were converted to open. Ninety-five patients (5%) underwent emergent resections. Thirty percent (n = 507) of patients had at least one postoperative complication within 30 days of surgery. Ileus (16%), transfusion (7%), and organ-space surgical site infection (6%) were the most common morbidities. Independent risk factors for postoperative morbidity were male gender (p = 0.01), open surgery (p = 0.002), preoperative severe anemia (p = 0.001), and preoperative weight loss (p = 0.04).

CONCLUSION

Approximately one third of the patients who undergo colon resection for Crohn's disease experience postoperative complications. Preoperative optimization of nutrition and anemia may improve outcomes. Laparoscopic technique appears to be the preferred surgical treatment option for resection when feasible.

Preoperative optimization of patients with inflammatory bowel disease undergoing gastrointestinal surgery: a systematic review

PURPOSE

Surgical management of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a challenging task. The aim of preoperative optimization (PO) is to decrease the risk of complications and reduce the length of postoperative stay. The aim of this study was to review and grade the available evidence, attain clear recommendations, and point out potential future research.

METHODS

Studies were identified from electronic databases (PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library) and scanning reference lists in relevant papers. English-written studies examining PO in adult patients with IBD were included. Eight PO factors were investigated.

RESULTS

Management of IBD is a multidisciplinary task. Steroid withdrawal is recommended while steroid stress dose is not recommended. Thiopurines appear to be safe, but it may be prudent to plan the procedure remotely from the last dose of an anti-TNF agent. Nutritional risk screening is recommended to unveil and correct any malnutrition. Thrombosis prophylaxis prior to surgery is well supported by evidence while extended 4-week prophylaxis needs further research. Percutaneous ultrasound or CT-guided drainage for intra-abdominal abscesses is recommended, but it is unclear for how long supplementary antibiotics (ABs) should be used. Oral AB 24 h prior to open surgery might improve outcome if given as complementary to IV perioperative AB. Mechanical bowel preparation is not supported by evidence. Comorbidities must be treated accordingly prior to surgical intervention. Smoking cessation can be beneficial for wound healing.

CONCLUSION

Multimodel PO intervention in IBD patients is recommended.

Preoperative Nutritional Conditioning of Crohn's Patients-Systematic Review of Current Evidence and Practice

Crohn’s disease is an incurable and frequently progressive entity with major impact on affected patients. Up to half of patients require surgery in the first 10 years after diagnosis and over 75% of operated patients require at least one further surgery within lifetime. In order to minimize surgical risk, modifiable risk factors such as nutritional status need to be optimized. This systematic review on preoperative nutritional support in adult Crohn’s patients between 1997 and 2017 aimed to provide an overview on target populations, screening modalities, routes of administration, and expected benefits. Pertinent study characteristics (prospective vs. retrospective, sample size, control group, limitations) were defined a priori. Twenty-nine studies were retained, of which 14 original studies (9 retrospective, 4 prospective, and 1 randomized controlled trial) and 15 reviews. Study heterogeneity was high regarding nutritional regimens and outcome, and meta-analysis could not be performed. Most studies were conducted without matched control group and thus provide modest level of evidence. Consistently, malnutrition was found to be a major risk factor for postoperative complications, and both enteral and parenteral routes were efficient in decreasing postoperative morbidity. Current guidelines for nutrition in general surgery apply also to Crohn’s patients. The route of administration should be chosen according to disease presentation and patients’ condition. Further studies are needed to strengthen the evidence.

The effect of pre-operative optimization on post-operative outcome in Crohn's disease resections

BACKGROUND

The timing of surgical intervention in Crohn's disease (CD) may depend on pre-operative optimization (PO) which includes different interventions to decrease the risk for unfavourable post-operative outcome. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of multi-model PO on the post-operative outcome in CD.

METHOD

This is a multicentre retrospective cohort study. The primary outcome was 30-day post-operative complications. Secondary outcomes were intra-abdominal septic complications, surgical site infection (SSI), re-operation, length of post-operative stay in a hospital and re-admission. PO included nutritional support, discontinuation of medications, pre-operative antibiotic course and thrombosis prophylaxis.

RESULTS

Two hundred and thirty-seven CD elective bowel resections were included. Mean age was 39.9 years SD 14.25, 144 (60.8 %) were female and 129 (54.4 %) had one or more types of medical treatment pre-operatively. Seventy-seven patients (32.5 %) optimized by at least nutritional support or change in pre-operative medications. PO patients were more likely to have penetrating disease phenotype (p = 0.034), lower albumin (p = 0.015) and haemoglobin (p = 0.021) compared to the non-optimized. Multivariate analyses showed that treatment with anti-TNF alpha agents OR 2.058 CI [1.043-4.4.064] and low haemoglobin OR 0.741 CI [0.572-0.0.961] increased the risk of overall post-operative complications. Co-morbidity increased the risk of SSI OR 2.567 CI [1.182-5.576] while low haemoglobin was a risk factor for re-admission OR 0.613 CI [0.405-0.926]. Low pre-operative albumin correlated with longer stay in hospital.

CONCLUSIONS

PO did not change post-operative outcome most likely due to selection bias. Anti-TNF alpha agents, low haemoglobin, low albumin and co-morbidity were associated with unfavourable outcome.

Surgical strategies in paediatric inflammatory bowel disease

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) comprises two distinct but related chronic relapsing inflammatory conditions affecting different parts of the gastrointestinal tract. Crohn's disease is characterised by a patchy transmural inflammation affecting both small and large bowel segments with several distinct phenotypic presentations. Ulcerative colitis classically presents as mucosal inflammation of the rectosigmoid (distal colitis), variably extending in a contiguous manner more proximally through the colon but not beyond the caecum (pancolitis). This article highlights aspects of the presentation, diagnosis, and management of IBD that have relevance for paediatric practice with particular emphasis on surgical considerations. Since 25% of IBD cases present in childhood or teenage years, the unique considerations and challenges of paediatric management should be widely appreciated. Conversely, we argue that the organizational separation of the paediatric and adult healthcare worlds has often resulted in late adoption of new approaches particularly in paediatric surgical practice.

Role of exclusive enteral nutrition in the preoperative optimization of patients with Crohn's disease following immunosuppressive therapy

We conducted a study to evaluate the impact of the exclusive enteral nutrition (EEN) on perioperative outcome in Crohn's disease (CD) patients following immunosuppressive therapy. Patients with CD followed at a referral center between January 2001 and March 2014 who underwent abdominal surgery were identified. Patients were divided into 4 groups: patients not exposed to immunosuppressive agents in the previous 8 weeks before surgery (group 1); patients received immunosuppressive medications without preoperative drug-free interval (group 2); patients had preoperative immunosuppressants-free interval (group 3); patients treated with adding EEN to preoperative immunosuppressants-free interval regimen (group 4). Urgent operation requirement, stoma creation, postoperative complications, readmission, and reoperation were compared in patients among groups. Overall, 708 abdominal surgeries performed in 498 CD patients were identified. Three hundred seventy-six (53.11%) surgeries performed in those receiving preoperative immunosuppressive medications. Compared with other groups, group 2 had increased postoperative complications, more frequent urgent operation, and higher rate of stoma creation. Patients in group 4 were found to have better outcome including lower rate of stoma creation (P < 0.05), and decreased incidence of postoperative complications (P < 0.05) compared with group 2 and group 3. Additionally, decreased urgent operation requirement (P < 0.05) and extended preoperative drug-free interval (P < 0.001) were observed in the group 4 than those in the group 3. Preoperative optimization of CD following immunosuppressive therapy by EEN prolongs the immunosuppressants-free interval, reduces the risk of urgent surgery and reoperation, and most importantly, decreases complications after abdominal surgery.

Surgical management of Crohn's disease

Although medical management can control symptoms in a recurring incurable disease, such as Crohn's disease, surgical management is reserved for disease complications or those problems refractory to medical management. In this article, we cover general principles for the surgical management of Crohn's disease, ranging from skin tags, abscesses, fistulae, and stenoses to small bowel and extraintestinal disease.

Management of abdominal and pelvic abscess in Crohn's disease

Patients with Crohn's disease may develop an abdominal or pelvic abscess during the course of their illness. This process results from transmural inflammation and penetration of the bowel wall, which in turn leads to a contained perforation and subsequent abscess formation. Management of patients with Crohn's related intra-abdominal and pelvic abscesses is challenging and requires the expertise of multiple specialties working in concert. Treatment usually consists of percutaneous abscess drainage (PAD) under guidance of computed tomography in addition to antibiotics. PAD allows for drainage of infection and avoidance of a two-stage surgical procedure in most cases. It is unclear if PAD can be considered a definitive treatment without the need for future surgery. The use of immune suppressive agents such as anti-tumor necrosis factor-α in this setting may be hazardous and their appropriate use is controversial. This article discusses the management of spontaneous abdominal and pelvic abscesses in Crohn's disease.