Surgical management of perforated Crohn's disease

The records of 102 patients operated on by one of the authors for Crohn's disease during the past 15 years were reviewed. Twenty-seven patients with confined (abscess present) or free perforation were evaluated. The average age was 31 years and the mean duration of disease was four years. Only two of the 27 patients had had previous surgery. All patients presented with a combination of pain, weight loss, and diarrhea. Twenty-three patients were afebrile, 17 had abdominal tenderness, and 6 had an abdominal mass. The average serum albumin was 3.7, the average hematocrit was 35 per cent and the average WBC was 13,000. Radiologic tests were abnormal in 23 of the 27 patients. All patients had been on medical treatment for Crohn's disease, and 19 of 27 were on high-dose steroids at the time of surgery. Ten of the 27 had a bowel prep before surgery and all had preoperative and postoperative antibiotics. All patients were surgically managed by resection and primary anastomosis without proximal diversion or delayed reconstruction. Drains were used in one third of the patients. Intraoperative cultures revealed gram-negative rods with Escherichia coli, enterococcus, and Enterobacter the most common. One enterocutaneous fistula, two superficial wound infections, and one death were recorded. Based on these results, the authors believe that an aggressive one-stage surgical approach for these complicated problems can be recommended. The low morbidity and mortality justifies this approach that results in considerable improvement in lost work time, length of hospital stay, number of readmissions, and significant cost control.