New aspects of surgical therapy of recurrent Crohn's disease

Crohn's disease can neither be cured by surgery nor by medical therapy. Surgical therapy of recurrent Crohn's disease requires special precautions. The recurrence rate is 60% after 15 years. There are no certain data of the risk factors influencing the recurrence rate. The only clear facts are that wide resection out of the resection margins and smoking negatively influence recurrence. Hence, the major principles of therapy is a minimally-resected surgery. This mainly concerns strictures and stenosis. Strictures should be treated by stricturoplasty and stenosis by limited resection with Crohn-free resection margins. Just in case of interenteric and enterocutanous with a concomitant short bowel syndrome, in blind-ending fistulas with an abscess or in enterovesical fistulas, we recommend immediate operation. The therapy of recurrent anorectal Crohn's disease underlies the same rules as primary therapy. If necessary, proctectomy remains the last option. Also, emergency surgery in recurrent Crohn's disease follows the same rules as in elective surgery.