Surgical Recurrence at Anastomotic Site After Bowel Resection in Crohn's Disease: Comparison of Kono-S and End-to-end Anastomosis

BackgroundAnastomotic surgical recurrence after bowel resection in Crohn's disease patients is problematic. This study was performed to evaluate the increased risk of anastomotic surgical recurrence.MethodsFrom 2006 to 2016, we performed anastomoses in 215 consecutive Crohn's disease patients. The cohort was divided into two groups: Kono-S anastomosis (n=117) and end-to-end anastomosis (n=98). Multivariate analysis of predictors of anastomotic surgical recurrence and Kaplan-Meier analysis for the 5-year anastomotic surgical recurrence rate were evaluated.ResultsThe two groups showed no statistically significant differences in patient backgrounds. During a median follow-up of 54months, 28 patients required anastomotic surgical recurrence [4 (3.4%) in the Kono-S group and 24 (24.4%) in the end-to-end group]. Six leaks (5.1%) were detected in the Kono-S group and 17 leaks (17.3%) in the end-to-end group; all were successfully treated conservatively. End-to-end anastomosis, leakage, age <45years, and body mass index of 18kg/m(2) at the first surgery had a higher risk of anastomotic surgical recurrence. Kono-S anastomosis significantly reduced the risk of anastomotic surgical recurrence after 1year (odds ratio, 0.14). Anastomotic leakage influenced anastomotic surgical recurrence within 1year (odds ratio, 4.84). The 5-year surgery-free survival rate at the anastomosis site with Kono-S anastomosis (95.0%) was significantly higher than that with end-to-end anastomosis (81.3%; P<0.001).ConclusionsAnastomotic leakage after bowel resection in Crohn's disease patients increased anastomotic surgical recurrence within 1year, and Kono-S anastomosis is associated with a low risk of anastomotic surgical recurrence after >1year.