BACKGROUND: The rates of postoperative endoscopic recurrence (PER) in patients with Crohn’s disease (CD) are consistent. Anti-TNF therapy has been increasingly used in the postoperative setting, despite the lack of robust data in the literature on the measurement of trough levels and consequences of their use. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this review was to assess trough levels of infliximab (IFX) in CD patients after ileocolonic resections in correlation with the presence of PER. METHODS: We searched for studies that evaluated trough levels of IFX in patients with CD, who underwent ileocaecal resections, and correlated them with the presence of PER. We used MEDLINE through PubMed and CENTRAL Cochrane library databases, and after matching the inclusion criteria, the studies were methodologically evaluated with qualitative analysis of the data. RESULTS: A total of 155 studies were initially identified in the databases search and only four matched the inclusion criteria. They comprised one prospective cohort study, one randomized controlled trial and two retrospective cohort studies, the last one performed in pediatric patients. This evidence suggested the correlation of PER with low trough levels of IFX and the presence of antibodies to the drug. The quality of the evidence generated varied from very low to high, due to the heterogeneity found between the studies and the risks of bias that were identified. CONCLUSION: Low levels of IFX and the presence of antibodies to the drug were directly associated with increased PER rates in patients with CD, who underwent ileocolonic resections. Controlled and randomized clinical trials with adequate methodological quality are warranted to confirm the conclusions from this systematic review.
Background: With the paradigm shift related to the overspread use of biological agents in the treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), several questions emerged from the surgical perspective. Whether the use of biologicals would be associated with higher rates of postoperative complications in ulcerative colitis (UC) patients still remains controversial. Aims: We aimed to analyze the literature, searching for studies that correlated postoperative complications and preoperative exposure to biologics in UC patients, and synthesize these data qualitatively in order to check the possible impact of biologics on postoperative surgical morbidity in this population. Methods: Included studies were identified by electronic search in the PUBMED database according to the PRISMA (Preferred Items of Reports for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis) guidelines. The quality and bias assessments were performed by MINORS (methodological index for non-randomized studies) criteria for non-randomized studies. Results: 608 studies were initially identified, 22 of which were selected for qualitative evaluation. From those, 19 studies (17 retrospective and two prospective) included preoperative anti-TNF. Seven described an increased risk of postoperative complications, and 12 showed no significant increase postoperative morbidity. Only three studies included surgical UC patients with previous use of vedolizumab, two retrospective and one prospective, all with no significant correlation between the drug and an increase in postoperative complication rates. Conclusions: Despite conflicting results, most studies have not shown increased complication rates after abdominal surgical procedures in patients with UC with preoperative exposure to biologics. Further prospective studies are needed to better establish the impact of preoperative biologics and surgical complications in UC.
Background Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC), characterized by chronic inflammation of the intestine, have a rising incidence and prevalence globally. The potential impact of socioeconomic inequality on health and mortality is well documented. In chronic diseases, the effect of inequality in assessment to healthcare can be associated with a higher frequency of complications and worse organ functionality in patients with social deprivation. In IBD, there are scarce studies comparing the differences between patients according to their socioeconomic status. Our aim was to comparatively evaluate hospitalizations, use of biologics and rates of surgery in patients with IBD between public and private healthcare systems. Methods single-center retrospective cohort study in patients with IBD from a tertiary referral unit from Latin America, between 2015 and 2021. CD and UC patients were classified into two subgroups: public and private healthcare systems. Main analyzed variables were age at diagnosis, gender, Montreal classification, new diagnoses or referred patients, smoking status, previous medications, need for IBD-related hospitalizations and abdominal surgery. Demographic characteristics, hospitalizations, need for surgery and biologics were compared between two subgroups: private and public healthcare systems. Results 500 patients were included, 322 with CD and 178 with UC. CD-related hospitalizations were frequently observed in both healthcare systems (76.28% in private and 67.46% in public). More than half of the patients had been submitted to one or more CD-related abdominal surgical procedure, with no significant difference between the subgroups. Although there was no difference in the rates of use of biological therapy in CD subgroups, infliximab was more used in the public setting (57.69% vs. 43.97%, p=0.014). There was no difference in UC-related hospitalizations between the subgroups (public 30.69% and private 37.66%, p=0.33) as well as the rates of colectomy (public: 16.83%, private: 19.48%, p=0.65). Biologics were used almost twice as often in private as compared to the public system (45.45% vs. 22.77%, p=0.001). Conclusion Patient demographics were overall similar between healthcare systems in IBD patients. There were no differences in the rates of hospitalization and abdominal surgery between the two subgroups in both diseases. In patients with UC, there was greater use of biological therapy in the private healthcare setting. Global data regarding the possible impact of social deprivation in IBD-related outcomes are warranted.
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