Disease Outcomes After Segmental Resection of Colonic Crohn's Disease: A Retrospective Multicenter Study

Colonic surgery for Crohn's disease (CD) frequently involves sparing uninvolved segments of the colon. Few studies have assessed recurrence rates after segmental colectomy (SC). The aim of this study was to determine the rate of and identify the risk factors for postoperative CD recurrence.

This was a multicenter retrospective study from 3 tertiary inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) referral centers of CD patients who underwent SC between 2000 and 2019. We defined endoscopic recurrence as the presence of ulcers in the remaining colon upon postoperative colonoscopy.

A total of 108 patients were included. Sixty-nine (63.9%) patients had evidence of postoperative CD endoscopic recurrence. Age at surgery <40 years and disease duration ≤156 months predicted an increased likelihood for postoperative recurrence (odds ratio [OR], 2.43; P = .031 and OR, 3.29; P = .005, respectively), whereas abdominal perineal resection (OR, 0.21; P = .005), indication for SC of malignancy (OR, 0.14; P = .016), and postoperative use of tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα) inhibitor for prophylactic purposes (OR, 0.38; P = .040) negatively predicted disease recurrence. Disease duration ≤156 months (OR, 2.86; P = .039) and postoperative TNFα inhibitor prophylaxis remained significant (OR, 0.26; P = .013) upon multivariable modeling.

Although high rates of recurrence persist within the postoperative phase of SC for CD, the postoperative use of TNFα inhibitor for prophylactic purposes for a subset of patients may promote a more durable endoscopic remission.