Combined Medical and Surgical Approach Improves Healing of Septic Perianal Crohn's Disease

Background Septic perianal Crohn's disease (SPCD) is a treatment challenge in spite of tumor necrosis factor antagonists (anti-TNF). Our aim was to define the success of SPCD management with a combined medical and surgical approach and to identify clinical and genetic factors predictive of healing. Study Design A retrospective chart review of patients with SPCD treated at the Penn State Milton S Hershey Medical Center was done. Primary end point was complete healing (ie normal clinical exam and no pain for at least 6 months). Genetic analysis of 185 single nucleotide polymorphisms associated with Crohn's disease was performed in 78 patients. Results One hundred and thirty-five episodes of SPCD were identified in 114 patients with a mean follow-up of 77 ± 7.4 months. Overall, 80 of 135 episodes healed (59.3%) and did not differ between those receiving anti-TNF and not (60.4% vs 56.8%). There appeared to be a consistent improved heal rate in each subcategory of surgically managed patients that received anti-TNF. Female sex was significantly predictive of healing in only those receiving anti-TNF agents (63.6% vs 25.0%; p = 0.0005). Twenty-two (19.3%) patients ultimately received a permanent diversion with either a total proctocolectomy or completion proctectomy. Multivariate analysis suggested several single nucleotide polymorphisms in Crohn's disease-associated genes to be possibly associated with healing, but lost significance after Bonferroni correction. Conclusions Overall, there is an approximate 60% rate of healing SPCD using a combined medical and surgical approach. About 20% of SPCD patients will require a permanent stoma. There were no clear genetic predictors of healing SPCD.