Laparoscopic surgery in Crohn's disease - Indications and results

Background: An effort was made to assess the feasibility, safety, and outcome of laparoscopic procedures performed in patients with Crohn's disease. Methods: A prospectively maintained laparoscopic database was analyzed regarding operation time, intra- and postoperative complications, conversion to laparotomy, and length of hospitalization. Fifty-one patients (23 males and 28 females) with a mean age of 36 (20-79) years underwent a laparoscopic or laparoscopic-assisted procedure for Crohn's disease. The indications included terminal ileitis in 31 patients, colitis in 11, perianal disease in four, duodenal Crohn's disease in three, and rectovaginal and rectourethral fistula in one patient each. Thirty-two patients underwent an ileocolic resection; total abdominal colectomy with ileorectal anastomosis was performed in six patients with end ileostomy in one, take down of end ileostomy and ileorectal anastomosis in three, duodenal bypass gastrojejunostomy in three, and loop ileostomy in six patients. Results: The mean operating time was 2.4 (0.6-4.5) h and the mean length of hospital stay was 5.1 (3-18) days. Eight complications were noted in seven patients (14%), which included enterotomy in two patients, bleeding in two, stoma obstruction in two, pelvic sepsis in one, and efferent limb obstruction in one. The procedure was converted to laparotomy in seven patients (14%) due to a large inflammatory mass in five and to bleeding in two patients; there was no mortality. Conclusion: Laparoscopic surgery is a feasible, versatile, and safe modality in the surgical management of Crohn's disease. Despite the often-malnourished state of these steroid-dependent patients with intraabdominal inflammatory conditions, morbidity, procedural length, and length-of-hospitalization data are all similar to results previously reported for less-challenging laparoscopic colorectal procedures.