Surgery for inflammatory bowel diseases

Surgery is required in many patients with inflammatory bowel disease at some point in their disease. In patients with ulcerative colitis, surgery is potentially curative whereas recurrence of Crohn's disease following surgery is a common occurrence. As a result, the indications and surgical management of the two diseases may be quite different. Surgery is usually reserved for the management of complications or failure of medical treatment in Crohn's disease. Resection of the diseased segment is the usual procedure performed. While surgery usually results in an improvement in quality of life, recurrence of disease occurs frequently with reported rates of 5-90% at 1 year, depending on the criteria used. To date, there have been no surgical maneuvers which have been shown to decrease the risk of recurrence. Over the past few decades, several advances have been made in the surgical management of Crohn's disease: use of strictureplasty for extensive disease; use of laparoscopic techniques to perform surgery and the performance of the ileal pouch procedure in very selected patients. Significant advances in the surgical management of ulcerative colitis have been made in the past 50 years. Although there are several options available to patients, the preferred option now is the ileal pouch procedure. With technical modifications and with experience, this procedure can now be performed with a low complication rate, with good functional results and quality of life and excellent long-term outcome.