Clinical characteristics, natural history, and outcomes of Crohn's-related intra-abdominal collections

Management of disease-related abdominal abscesses in Crohn's disease

INTRODUCTION

Crohn's disease (CD)-related abdominal abscesses require tailored management strategies taking into consideration the variability in abscess size, location, and underlying CD activity.

AREAS COVERED

This review discusses current approaches to CD-related abscesses. Literature review was performed through the PubMed and Medline databases to identify studies pertinent to the wide-ranging focus of this review.

EXPERT OPINION

Early, individualized treatment combining medical and surgical strategies is crucial for optimizing outcomes in patients with CD-related abdominal abscesses. Antibiotics are effective for smaller abscesses in hemodynamically stable patients; however, recurrence is common, necessitating close monitoring. Percutaneous drainage (PD) provides a less invasive alternative to surgery, offering high initial success rates but variable long-term results, as many patients ultimately need a definitive surgical intervention. For larger or complex abscesses, surgery may be necessary to address both the abscess and underlying CD. Despite its invasiveness, surgery is associated with high success rates and reduced recurrence risk. Biologic therapies, particularly anti-TNF agents, have shown promise in managing CD-associated abscesses, and can reduce abscess recurrence risk without surgery. While biologics may help delay or avoid surgery in select patients, interdisciplinary collaboration is essential to mitigate the risks associated with immunosuppression in the presence of intra-abdominal infections.

Computerized tomography features acting as predictors for invasive therapy in the management of Crohn's disease-related spontaneous intra-abdominal abscess: experience from long-term follow-up

BACKGROUND

Decision-making in the management of Crohn's disease (CD)-related spontaneous intra-abdominal abscess (IAA) is challenging. This study aims to reveal predictive factors for percutaneous drainage and/or surgery in the treatment of CD-related spontaneous IAA through long-term follow-up.

METHODS

Data were collected, including clinical manifestations, radiography and treatment strategies, in Chinese patients with CD-related IAA in a tertiary medical center. Univariate and Multivariate Cox analysis were conducted to identify predictors for invasive therapy.

RESULTS

Altogether, 48 CD patients were identified as having IAA through enhanced CT scans. The median follow-up time was 45.0 (23.3, 58.0) months. 23 (47.9%) patients underwent conservative medical treatment, and 25 (52.1%) patients underwent percutaneous drainage and/or surgical intervention (invasive treatment group). The 1-, 2-, and 5-year overall survival rates without invasive treatment were 75.0%, 56.1%, and 46.1%, respectively. On univariate Cox analysis, the computerized tomography (CT) features including nonperienteric abscess (HR: 4.22, 95% CI: 1.81-9.86, p = 0.001), max abscess diameter (HR: 1.01, 95% CI: 1.00-1.02, p<0.001) and width of sinus (HR: 1.27, 95% CI: 1.10-1.46, p = 0.001) were significantly associated with invasive treatment. Nonperienteric abscess was significantly associated with invasive treatment on multivariate Cox analysis (HR: 3.11, 95% CI: 1.25-7.71, p = 0.015). A score model was built by width of sinus, location of abscess and max abscess diameter to predict invasive treatment. The AUC of ROC, sensitivity and specificity were 0.892, 80.0% and 90.9% respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

More than half of CD-related IAA patients needed invasive therapy within 5-year follow-up. The CT features including nonperienteric abscess, larger maximum abscess diameter and width of sinus suggested a more aggressive approach to invasive treatment.

Microbial Spectrum and Antibiotic Resistance in Patients Suffering from Penetrating Crohn's Disease

Intraabdominal abscess formation occurs in up to 30% of patients suffering from Crohn´s disease (CD). While international guidelines recommend a step-up approach with a combination of empiric antibiotic therapy and percutaneous drainage to delay or even avoid surgery, evidence about microbial spectrum in penetrating ileitis is sparse. We retrospectively assessed outcomes of 46 patients with terminal penetrating Ileitis where microbial diagnostics have been performed and compared microbial spectrum and antibiotic resistance profile of CD patients with patients suffering from diverticulitis with intraabdominal abscess formation. In both groups, the most frequently isolated pathogen was the gram-negative bacterium E.coli belonging to the family of Enterobacterales. However, overall Enterobacterales were significantly more often verifiable in the control group than in CD patients. Furthermore, microbial analysis showed significant differences regarding isolation of anaerobic pathogens with decreased frequency in patients with CD. Subgroup analysis of CD patients to evaluate a potential influence of immunosuppressive therapy on microbial spectrum only revealed that Enterobacterales was less frequently detected in patients treated with steroids. Immunosuppressive therapy did not show any impact on all other groups of pathogens and did not change antibiotic resistance profile of CD patients. In conclusion, we were able to demonstrate that the microbial spectrum of CD patients does differ only for some pathogen species without increased rate of antibiotic resistance. However, the empiric antibiotic therapy for CD-associated intra-abdominal abscess remains challenging since different points such as local epidemiological and microbiological data, individual patient risk factors, severity of infection, and therapy algorithm including non-surgical and surgical therapy options should be considered before therapeutical decisions are made.