Preliminary experience with laparoscopic intestinal surgery for Crohn's disease.

BACKGROUND

Laparoscopic techniques are being applied to the surgical management of various intestinal conditions, but few reports describe their use with Crohn's disease.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Over a 2-year period, 31 selected patients with Crohn's disease underwent laparoscopic intestinal surgery: 18 women and 13 men, with a median age of 39 years (range 22 to 79). Indications for operation included: primary terminal ileitis (13); recurrent ileitis (2); Crohn's colitis (3); rectovaginal fistula (6); and severe perianal disease (7). Resections were laparoscopically assisted with division of mesentery and anastomosis performed extracorporeally. Diversion procedures were performed using a two-cannula technique.

RESULTS

Twenty-five of 31 procedures were completed laparoscopically: loop ileostomy or colostomy (12); ileocecectomy (10); segmental colon resection (2); and total abdominal colectomy with ileorectal anastomosis (1). Six cases were converted to conventional surgery secondary to extensive adhesions from prior surgery (2) or severe inflammation (4). No case was converted because of intraoperative complication. Median operative time for diversion procedures was 53 minutes (range 20 to 90) and for resections 195 minutes (range 90 to 380). Median blood loss was 100 mL (range 10 to 500), and there were no intraoperative complications. Only 1 postoperative complication occurred: a myocardial infarction. Median times to passage of flatus and bowel movement were both 3 days (range 1 to 6). Median time to discharge was 6 days (2 to 21) for diversion patients, and 6 days (3 to 7) for resected patients.

CONCLUSIONS

Laparoscopic intestinal surgery, both for resection and diversion, is feasible and safe for the management of selected patients with Crohn's disease. To determine if real advantages exist for laparoscopy in the surgical treatment of Crohn's disease, further study is needed.