Cases reported • Pouchitis

1/4. Complications after ileal pouch-anal anastomosis.

Restorative proctocolectomy with ileal pouch-anal anastomosis (IPAA) is currently the procedure of choice for ulcerative colitis patients who require colectomy. Despite its wide acceptance, a variety of long-term complications of the procedure exist that can be severe and even lead to pouch excision. pouchitis occurs in up to one half of patients after IPAA, but is usually well controlled with medical therapy. A small percentage of patients develop chronic persistent pouchitis, which often requires long-term medical therapy and may result in pouch failure. Fistulas and strictures can also complicate the pouch procedure. In general, patients with Crohn's disease are not usually offered IPAA, because recurrence of disease, fistulas, abscesses, and strictures may lead to a higher incidence of pouch failure. Some ulcerative colitis patients develop complications after IPAA and are subsequently diagnosed with Crohn's disease. These patients may develop refractory fistulas, strictures, and extraintestinal manifestations of inflammatory bowel disease. Neoplastic transformation of the pelvic pouch has also been reported, particularly in patients with chronic pouchitis. Thorough follow-up and endoscopic surveillance with biopsies of the ileal pouch are therefore recommended.

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2/4. arthritis related to ileal pouchitis following total proctocolectomy for ulcerative colitis.

OBJECTIVE: To draw attention to arthritis that developed in patients who underwent total proctocolectomy with ileal pouch construction for ulcerative colitis (UC). methods: The course of 4 patients who developed arthritis for the first time after ileal-anal pouch anastomosis is described. In addition, the relationship to the chronic inflammation of the pouch-pouchitis-is discussed. RESULTS: The clinical manifestations were very similar to seronegative arthritis affecting mainly the joints of the lower extremities. It was accompanied by enthesopathy (2 patients) and by sacroiliitis (2 patients). All had active pouchitis. The abnormal laboratory test results were nonspecific, indicating chronic inflammation. All 4 patients tested negative for human leukocyte antigen (HLA) B27, and none had other concomitant extraintestinal manifestations. steroids rapidly improved both the arthritis and pouchitis; however, disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs were required to maintain remission with minimal daily steroids. Flares of the arthritis were always associated with active pouchitis, but the opposite was not necessarily true. CONCLUSIONS: arthritis related to ileal pouchitis after total colectomy for UC has many similarities to the arthritis associated with inflammatory bowel disease and should be added to the list of enteropathic arthropathies.

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3/4. Infliximab therapy in pediatric Crohn's pouchitis.

OBJECTIVE: We describe the prolonged clinical benefit of murine chimeric antitumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha monoclonal antibody, infliximab, on pediatric patients with Crohn's disease and ileal pouch anal anastomosis (IPAA). methods: A retrospective review of patients originally diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, status post colectomy and IPAA, who developed findings compatible with Crohn's disease was undertaken. Refractory pouchitis developed in all patients as well as protracted symptoms of diarrhea, abdominal pain, joint pain, and incontinence. All patients received infliximab. RESULTS: Four pediatric patients (2 males and 2 females) with mean age of 14.5 years (range 11-18 years) were studied. The development of perianal fistulas in 2 patients, granuloma on biopsy in 1 patient and perianal skin tag in 1 patient, led to a diagnosis change of CD. After failure to respond to antibiotics, aminosalicylates and immunomodulators such as azathioprine and 6-mercaptopurine (6-MP), all patients were treated with infliximab. patients received infliximab infusions at a dose of 5 mg/kg, initially at weeks 0, 2 and 6 and subsequently at 8 weeks intervals in combination with an immunomodulator drug. All patients showed marked improvement clinically, endoscopically, and histologically. CONCLUSION: Infliximab can be used successfully for the treatment of pediatric patients with Crohn's disease and IPAA who are refractory to conventional therapies.

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4/4. Collagenous pouchitis.

Collagenous colitis is characterised by watery diarrhoea, normal colonic mucosa on endoscopy, diffuse colitis with surface epithelial injury, and a distinctive thickening of the subepithelial collagen table on histology. Some patients can develop medically refractory collagenous colitis, in which case they may require surgical intervention. This is the first report of collagenous pouchitis in a collagenous colitis patient with proctocolectomy and ileal pouch-anal anastomosis. A patient with medically refractory collagenous colitis who underwent a total proctocolectomy and ileal pouch-anal anastomosis was sequentially evaluated with an endoscopy and histology of the colon, distal small intestine, and ileal pouch. A 58-year-old female had a 10-year history of collagenous colitis before having a total proctocolectomy and ileal pouch-anal anastomosis for medically refractory disease. The histologic features of collagenous colitis were present in all colon and rectum biopsy or resection specimens, but were absent in the distal ileum specimen. The post-operative course was complicated by persistent increase of stool frequency, abdominal cramps, and incontinence. A pouch endoscopy was performed 3 years after ileal pouch-anal anastomosis which showed the histologic features of collagenous colitis in the ileal pouch, collagenous pouchitis, while the pre-pouch neo-terminal ileum had no pathologic changes. After antibiotic therapy, the histologic changes of collagenous pouchitis resolved. This is the first reported case of collagenous pouchitis. Since the abnormal collagen table and its associated features were only present in the pouch and absent in the neo-terminal ileum, and the patient had histologic improvement after antibiotic therapy, it would suggest that faecal stasis and bacterial load may play a role in the pathogenesis.

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