Intestinal Behçet's disease: A review of clinical diagnosis and treatment

Behçet's disease(BD)is a chronic inflammatory disorder prone to frequent re-currences,with a high predilection for intestinal involvement.However,the ef-ficacy and long-term effects of surgical treatment for intestinal BD are unknown.In the current issue of World J Gastrointest Surg,Park et al conducted a retrospec-tive analysis of 31 patients with intestinal BD who received surgical treatment.They found that elevated C-reactive protein levels and emergency surgery were poor prognostic factors for postoperative recurrence,emphasizing the adverse impact of severe inflammation on the prognosis of patients with intestinal BD.This work has clinical significance for evaluating the postoperative condition of intestinal BD.The editorial attempts to summarize the clinical diagnosis and treatment of intestinal BD,focusing on the impact of adverse factors on surgical outcomes.We hope this review will facilitate more precise postoperative management of patients with intestinal BD by clinicians.

Management and outcomes of surgical patients with intestinal Behçet’s disease and Crohn’s disease in southwest China

BACKGROUND Gastrointestinal involvement in Behçet's disease(GIBD)and Crohn’s disease(CD)are inflammatory diseases sharing a considerable number of similarities.However,different from CD,the operative and postoperative management of GIBD remains largely empirical because of the lack of comprehensive treatment guidelines.AIM To compare surgical patients with GIBD and those with CD in a medical center and identify notable clinical features and effective postoperative treatment for surgical patients with GIBD.METHODS We searched patients diagnosed with CD and GIBD who underwent operations for gastrointestinal complications from 2009 to 2015 at West China Hospital of Sichuan University.A total of 10 surgical patients with GIBD and 106 surgical patients with CD were recruited.Information including demographic data,medication,and operative and postoperative parameters were collected and analyzed.As the incidence of surgical GIBD is low,their detailed medical records were reviewed and compared to previous studies.Moreover,the prognoses of CD and GIBD were evaluated respectively between groups treated with biological and non-biological agents.RESULTS Indication for first surgery was often acute intestinal perforation for GIBDpatients (7/10 vs 0/106, P < 0.001), whereas intestinal fistulae (0/10 vs 44/106, P =0.013) and ileus (0/10 vs 40/106, P = 0.015) were the indications for surgical CDpatients. Approximately 40% of patients with GIBD and 23.6% of patients withCD developed postoperative complications, 50% of patients with GIBD and 38.7%of patients with CD had recurrence postoperatively, and 40% (4/10) of patientswith GIBD and 26.4% (28/106) of patients with CD underwent reoperations. Theaverage period of postoperative recurrence was 7.87 mo in patients with Behçet'sdisease (BD) and 10.43 mo in patients with CD, whereas the mean duration fromfirst surgery to reoperation was 5.75 mo in BD patients and 18.04 mo in CDpatients. Surgical patients with GIBD more often used corticosteroids (6/10 vs7/106, P < 0.001) and thalidomide (7/10 vs 9/106, P < 0.001) postoperatively,whereas surgical patients with CD often used infliximab (27/106), azathioprine,or 6-mercaptopurine (74/106) for maintenance therapy.CONCLUSIONPatients suffering GIBD require surgery mostly under emergency situations,which may be more susceptible to recurrence and reoperation and need moreaggressive postoperative treatment than patients with CD.