Purpose: Crohn's disease of the pouch can occur in patients with colectomy and ileal pouch-anal anastomosis performed for ulcerative colitis. The clinical features of inflammatory, fibrostenotic, and fistulizing Crohn's disease have not been characterized.
Methods: A total of 73 eligible patients with Crohn's disease of the pouch, who were seen in the Pouchitis Clinic, were enrolled: 25 with inflammatory Crohn's disease, 17 with fibrostenotic Crohn's disease, and 31 with fistulizing Crohn's disease. The clinical phenotypes of Crohn's disease were based on a combined assessment of clinical, endoscopic, radiographic, and histologic features. Clinical symptoms, endoscopic and histologic features, and health-related quality-of-life scores were assessed.
Results: Demographic and clinical features, including preoperative and postoperative parameters, were similar between the three phenotypes of Crohn's disease of the pouch. The use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, neuropsychiatric drugs, antidiarrheal agents, and Crohn's disease medicines was not different between the three groups. Predominant symptoms, as expected, were significantly different between the three phenotypes: diarrhea and/or pain in 92 percent of patients with inflammatory Crohn's disease, obstructive symptoms in 64.7 percent of patients with fibrostenotic Crohn's disease, and fistular drainage in 51.6 percent of those with fistulizing Crohn's disease (P < 0.0001). There was no statistical difference in quality-of-life scores between the three phenotypes, adjusted for disease activity. There was no significant correlation between quality-of-life and symptom scores in any of the three groups. Although not statistically significant, patients with fistulizing Crohn's disease (16.1 percent) tended to have an increased risk for pouch failure compared with inflammatory (8 percent) or fibrostenotic (5.9 percent) Crohn's disease.
Conclusions: Predominant symptoms were different in clinical phenotypes of Crohn's disease. Each of the three phenotypes of Crohn's disease similarly affected quality-of-life. Fistulizing Crohn's disease may be associated with a higher risk for pouch failure.