Treatment of perianal Crohn's disease

Epidemiology, Disease Course, and Clinical Outcomes of Perianal Fistulas and Fissures Crohn's Disease: A Nationwide Population-Based Study in Taiwan

Background

Population-based data on the course of perianal disease in East Asian populations with Crohn's disease (CD) are limited. This study examined the prevalence, clinical course, and compared the outcomes of CD patients with perianal CD (pCD) versus without pCD in Taiwan.

Methods

A nationwide population-based study was implemented from 2000 to 2017 by using the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database.

Results

Of 2424 patients with CD, 358 (14.8%) patients with pCD were identified. Most patients with CD and pCD were men (79.3%). The mean age at CD diagnosis was lower in patients with pCD (33.7 years) than in those without pCD (44.9 years). Approximately half the patients with pCD received the pCD diagnosis at least 6 months before receiving a CD diagnosis. Approximately one-third (121/358) of patients with pCD had recurrent fistula; the median recurrence interval was 239 days. Compared with patients without pCD, patients with pCD had higher mean incidences of hospitalization (7.0 vs 3.8, P < .01), outpatient visits (13 vs 2.9, P < .01), and emergency room visits (10.3 vs 4.4, P < .01) over a 15-year period. Although patients with pCD had higher rates of healthcare utilization, their 15-year mortality rate was lower than that of those without pCD (6.1% vs 17.3%, P < .01).

Conclusions

The period prevalence of pCD in Taiwanese patients with CD was 14.8%. Although patients with pCD required more intensive care and had greater healthcare utilization, they did not have inferior survival outcomes compared with those without pCD.

Recognising and Treating Complicated Fissuring Perianal Crohn Disease: A South-East Scotland Cohort Study

ABSTRACT

Fissuring perianal Crohn disease (CD) is not recognised as a perianal phenotype in Montreal/Paris inflammatory bowel disease classifications; however, can occasionally present as complicated disease with severe perianal pain driving increasingly intensive medical therapy despite well controlled luminal disease. We identified a regional cohort of prospectively acquired incident cases of paediatric CD diagnosed <16 years of age in South-East Scotland over a 19-year period (1999-2018), and conducted a retrospective review of complicated fissuring perianal CD causing severe pain related to anal sphincter complex spasm at defecation. Two hundred forty-seven new cases of paediatric CD were diagnosed with complicated fissuring perianal disease identified in 4 described cases (cumulative incidence 1.6%). These patients with marked fissuring and refractory anal sphincter complex spasm required neurostimulation-guided, 4-quadrant, anal intrasphincteric botulinum toxin (BT). All experienced immediate success, measured by cessation of spasms, with variable ongoing symptom relief after median (range) 3 (2-5) BT injections.

Determinants of quality of life and psychosocial adjustment to pediatric inflammatory bowel disease: A systematic review focused on Crohn's disease

BACKGROUND

Crohn's disease is a chronic and unpredictable inflammatory bowel disease that leads to important psychosocial difficulties especially during sensitive developmental stages such as childhood and adolescence. While risk factors for mood disorders have been identified in the literature, those for quality of life and psychosocial functioning have not.

OBJECTIVE

This systematic review explored the determinants of quality of life and psychosocial adjustment to pediatric Crohn's disease.

METHOD

Four international databases were consulted in March 2020: PubMed, PsychInfo, PubPsych and Cochrane Library. A series of keywords were entered in each database to identify the most recent relevant studies.

RESULTS

One hundred and sixty-eight articles were identified, of which twenty-nine met the inclusion criteria. The majority explored the determinants of quality of life, depression and anxiety, with a few focusing on psychosocial functioning. Consistently with the literature on psychological morbidity, disease activity and parental stress were also strong predictors of quality of life and psychosocial functioning. New evidence showed that abdominal pain, negative illness perceptions and internalizing symptoms were also common predictors of these outcomes.

CONCLUSIONS

Some risk factors of quality of life, distress and psychosocial functioning are similar, which could indicate that some patients could be at risk of presenting an accumulation of difficulties adjusting to the disease. The identification of these risk factors is fundamental to propose appropriate interventions. Therapeutic education, therapies focused on pain management or on the parent-child relationship can be considered to allow a better adjustment or prevent difficulties.

Thiopurines in Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease: Current and Future Place

Thiopurines have been widely used to maintain steroid-free remission in children with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). However, within the expanding treatment armamentarium, the role of these non-selective immunomodulators has been questioned, especially in pediatric patients, who often present with a more aggressive disease course, which can impact growth and development. The less favorable safety but also inferior efficacy profile associated with thiopurines, in contrast to the newer biological therapies, has interfered with their use. The future place of thiopurines in the management of childhood IBD, therefore, needs revisiting. This review provides a practical overview on the historical and current use of thiopurines in pediatric IBD with specific attention for thiopurine S-methyltransferase testing and monitoring of thiopurine metabolite levels as an approach to improve outcomes. We also give a personal expert opinion on the future role of these drugs in childhood IBD.

Perianal Crohn's Disease in Children and Adolescents

The incidence of Crohn's disease is increasing worldwide. The clinical course of childhood onset Crohn's disease is particularly aggressive with characteristic disease localization in the ileocecal region and colon, often associated with perianal disease. Severe complications of perianal disease include recurrent perianal sepsis, chronic fistulae, fecal incontinence, and rectal strictures that impair quality of life and may require fecal diversion. Care of patients with perianal Crohn's disease requires a multidisciplinary approach with systematic clinical evaluation, endoscopic assessment, and imaging studies followed by combined medical and surgical management. In this review, we provide an update of the epidemiology, pathophysiology, diagnostics, and management of perianal Crohn's disease in children and adolescents.

Complications of enterostomy and related risk factor analysis of very early onset inflammatory bowel disease with interleukin-10 signalling deficiency: a single-centre retrospective analysis

Background

Interleukin-10 (IL10) signalling pathway deficiency results in severe very early onset inflammatory bowel disease (VEOIBD), and enterostomy is often inevitable. However, studies in these surgical populations are lacking. This study aims to determine the enterostomy characteristics, postoperative complications and related risk factors in enterostomy patients.

Methods

From March 1, 2015, to December 31, 2018, patients with IL10R-mutation who underwent enterostomy were recruited for analysis. We collected data on the patients’ clinical characteristics, enterostomy characteristics, postoperative complications and related risk factors.

Results

Twelve patients required emergency enterostomy, and 10 patients underwent elective enterostomy. Twelve patients experienced postoperative complications, including wound infection (27.3%), wound dehiscence (18.2%), reoperation (18.2%), etc. Compared with the pre-enterostomy values, there was a decrease in C-reactive protein (CRP) (P = 0.001), an increase in albumin (P = 0.001) and an improvement in the weight-for-age (P = 0.029) and body mass index (BMI) Z-scores (P = 0.004) after enterostomy. There was a significant difference between the pre-operation and postoperation medicine expenses (P = 0.002). Univariate binary logistic regression analysis revealed a statistically significant influence of CRP (OR: 1.43, 95% CI: 1.07–1.91, P = 0.016) and a tendency towards a significant influence of intestinal perforation, albumin level, BMI Z-score and weighted paediatric Crohn’s disease activity index (wPCDAI). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that CRP (OR: 1.40), wPCDAI (OR: 2.88) and perforation (OR: 1.72) showed a tendency to behave as independent risk factors for postoperative complications, but the results were not significant (all P > 0.05).

Conclusions

Surgery and enterostomy showed benefits for VEOIBD with IL-10 signalling deficiency. The timing of intervention, potential postoperative complications, economic burden and other related problems should be considered.

Thalidomide Prevented and Ameliorated Pathogenesis of Crohn's Disease in Mice via Regulation of Inflammatory Response and Fibrosis

Crohn's disease (CD) is a chronic, relapsing form of inflammatory bowel disease, seriously threatening human health. Thalidomide has been used for the treatment of CD. However, the effects and the possible mechanisms of thalidomide on CD are still unclear. Herein, our study demonstrated that thalidomide protected colon mucosa against trinitro-benzene-sulfonic acid (TNBS)-induced injury, diminished inflammatory infiltration and levels of IFN-γ, IGF-1, IL-6, IL-17, TNF-α, while increased the levels of IL-10 and TGF-γ. Moreover, it reversed the intestinal fibrosis and inhibited the accumulated infiltration, down-regulated the expression of col1a2, col3a2, MMP-3, MMP-9, MMP-1, TGF-γ, α-SMA, but up-regulated the expression of TIMP-1 and Vimentin. Although it could be observed that the effect of thalidomide administration in modeling was better than after modeling, there was no statistical difference between the two groups. The present study provided evidence that the therapeutic effect of thalidomide alleviated the inflammatory response and damage of colon tissue, mainly by restoring the imbalance of TH17/Treg cells and inhibiting intestinal fibrosis in TNBS-induced mice colitis.

Anorectal Crohn's Disease

Medical treatment remains the mainstay of perianal disease management for CD; however, aggressive surgical management should be considered for severe or recurrent disease. In all cases of perianal CD, medical and surgical treatments should be used in tandem by a multidisciplinary team. Significant development has been made in the treatment of Crohn's-related fistulas, particularly minimally invasive options with recent clinical trials showing success with mesenchymal stem cell applications. Inevitably, some patients with severe refractory disease may require fecal diversion or proctectomy. When considering reversal of a diverting or end ileostomy, cessation of proctitis is the most important factor.

Advances in Perianal Disease Associated with Crohn's Disease-Evolving Approaches

Perianal diseases, common complications of Crohn's disease, are difficult to diagnose/manage. Patients with perianal Crohn's disease suffer from persistent pain and drainage, recurrent perianal sepsis, impaired quality of life, and financial burden. Conventional medical and surgical therapies carry risk of infection, myelosuppression, incontinence, disease recurrence. Although the phenotype of Crohn's disease has been extensively studied, reported outcomes are inconsistent. Endoanal ultrasonography is also becoming popular because of low cost and ability to acquire images in real time. Emerging management strategies for treatment including laser therapy, local injection of agents, use of hyperbaric oxygen, and stem cell therapy, have demonstrated efficacy.