The place of ileorectal anastomosis in Crohn's disease

A study of 41 patients who underwent ileorectal anastomosis for Crohn's disease has shown this operation to be a relatively safe procedure with an immediate mortality of 2.5%. A defunctioning ileostomy may protect the patient against the consequences of anastomotic leakage. Ileorectal anastomosis is associated with a high early recurrence rate and on overall failure rate of up to 50% because of recurrence, intractable diarrhoea and exacerbation of perianal disease. However, half of the patients are able to retain the anastomosis and be restored to long-standing good health. The surgical philosophy in this Centre has largely evolved from treatment of small-bowel Crohn's disease, that is, resection of only the worst areas of involvement with the aim of symptomatic relief, and the results shown by this survey encourage us to pursue this policy by using ileorectal anastomosis for diffuse colonic disease, particularly if the rectum is uninvolved.