Mirikizumab for the treatment of chronic antibiotic-refractory pouchitis

The current standard of care for the definitive surgical treatment of complicative ulcerative colitis is a continence-preserving proctocolectomy with the creation of an ileal pouch anal anastomosis. In addition to structural and functional disorders, pouchitis of the J-pouch is a common phenomenon, typically well responsive to antimicrobial therapy. However, sometimes chronic antibiotic-refractory pouchitis occurs, most often due to not completely understood multifactorial pathomechanisms. While high-quality evidence is available only for anti-integrin therapy, the role of advanced therapy, i.e., cytokine-antibodies or small molecules in the treatment of chronic antibiotic-refractory pouchitis (CARP), is emerging.This case demonstrates a successful induction treatment of CARP with the novel p19-selective IL-23-targeted antibody mirikizumab.