[Surgically treated severe acute inflammatory colitis. Immediate results and long-term outcome]

The goal of this study was to analyse the management and the long-term evolution of 40 patients surgically treated for acute colitis (AC) during a 10 year period.

From June 1985 to June 1995, 40 patients (22 males and 18 females, mean age: 33,5 y.o.) have been consecutively operated on for AC. Assessment of severity was based on clinico-biological, endoscopic and radiological criterias: AC was complicated in 3, failing to respond to medical therapy in 9, resisting to medical therapy in 28. Sub-total colectomy (STC) with ileostomy and sigmoidostomy was the most frequently performed procedure (27 cases-68%).

1) The preoperative diagnosis of colitis was modified 6 times (15%) after histological assessment of the specimen: the final diagnosis was ulcerative colitis, indeterminate colitis and Crohn colitis respectively in 36 (90%), 2, and 2 cases. The established diagnosis had to be modified 4 times during follow-up. 2) Postoperative complications occurred in 5 after STC (18%) and in 4 in the other procedures (31%), without mortality. 3) After a mean follow-up of 55 +/- 10 months of the all series, 7 patients (17,5%) had a stoma: 2 had ileo-anal anastomosis taken down and 2 returned to ileostomy for Crohn disease, 1 patient with protected ileo-rectal anastomosis stayed with an ileostomy, 1 patient refused ileo-anal anastomosis, and 1 with imperforate anus had terminal ileostomy. Respectively 25, 6 and 2 patients had a functional ileo-anal, ileo-rectal, and colo-rectal anastomosis and experienced good to excellent digestive comfort in 85% of the cases.