[Colorectal Crohn's disease: indications to surgical treatment]

Colorectal Crohns Disease (CRCD) represents the 25% of all cases of Crohns Disease (CD). Between January 1984 and December 2000 we have operated 68 patients with CRCD, that represent 10.3% of the patients operated for CD. Thirtythree patients (48.5%) were men and 35 (51.5%) were women. The median age at diagnosis was 37.3 +/- 13.1 years, with the highest incidence during the fourth decade. In most cases the disease involved the left colon and rectum (65.9%), while in 6.3% and in 3.8% of cases the right and the transverse colon respectively. In the 27.9% of cases the entire colon was involved. At the time of surgery, the disease behaviour was stenosing in 30.9% of patients, inflammatory in 22.1%, and penetrating in 47% of cases with the presence of fistulae (coloenteric in 6 patients, colo-bladder in 2 cases, rectouretral in 1 case, colo-cutaneous in 4 cases and intramesenteric in 2 cases) and abscesses (23.5% of patients). In three patients the CRCD had led to neoplastic transformation. Fourteen patients had undergone an emergency surgical procedure for severe acute colitis, 2 for toxic megacolon, 1 for an intraabdominal abscess and one for intestinal occlusion. In the segmentary forms we have always practiced a resection of the diseased colonic segment without total colectomy. In the cases with diffuse colonic involvement in which the rectum was free from disease a total colectomy with ileorectal anastomosis was performed. In the cases with rectal disease (26 cases) the sphinteric function was preserved with low rectal resection or with colo-anal anastomosis. In 4 patients with rectal disease and in 4 cases with fistulae, we complited the intervention with a permanent stoma. During the median follow-up of 83.7 months (12-207) the surgical relapse was of 27.3%. We suggest to treat CRCD with resections limited to the diseased segment. Moreover, it is possible to preserve the sphinteric function every time the rectum or the anal canal are normal, without postoperative complications or early relapses.