Short-term outcomes of surgical treatment for primary ileocaecal Crohn's disease: Results of the Crohn's(urg) study, a multicentre, retrospective, comparative analysis between inflammatory and complicated phenotypes.

AIM: Recent evidence challenges the current standard of offering surgery to patients with ileocaecal Crohn's disease (CD) only when they present complications of the disease. The aim of this study was to compare short-term results of patients who underwent primary ileocaecal resection for either inflammatory (luminal disease, earlier in the disease course) or complicated phenotypes, hypothesizing that the latter would be associated with worse postoperative outcomes. METHOD: A retrospective, multicentre comparative analysis was performed including patients operated on for primary ileocaecal CD at 12 referral centres. Patients were divided into two groups according to indication of surgery for inflammatory (ICD) or complicated (CCD) phenotype. Short-term results were compared. RESULTS: A total of 2013 patients were included, with 291 (14.5%) in the ICD group. No differences were found between the groups in time from diagnosis to surgery. CCD patients had higher rates of low body mass index, anaemia (40.9% vs. 27%, p < 0.001) and low albumin (11.3% vs. 2.6%, p < 0.001). CCD patients had longer operations, lower rates of laparoscopic approach (84.3% vs. 93.1%, p = 0.001) and higher conversion rates (9.3% vs. 1.9%, p < 0.001). CCD patients had a longer hospital stay and higher postoperative complication rates (26.1% vs. 21.3%, p = 0.083). Anastomotic leakage and reoperations were also more frequent in this group. More patients in the CCD group required an extended bowel resection (14.1% vs. 8.3%, p: 0.017). In multivariate analysis, CCD was associated with prolonged surgery (OR 3.44, p = 0.001) and the requirement for multiple intraoperative procedures (OR 8.39, p = 0.030). CONCLUSION: Indication for surgery in patients who present with an inflammatory phenotype of CD was associated with better outcomes compared with patients operated on for complications of the disease. There was no difference between groups in time from diagnosis to surgery.

Short and long-term outcomes of surgery for inflammatory (uncomplicated) ileocecal Crohn's disease: Multicentric retrospective analysis of 211 patients.

BACKGROUND: Surgical management for patients with inflammatory ileocecal Crohn's disease (CD) could be a reasonable alternative to second-line medical treatment. AIM: To assess short and long-term outcomes of patients operated on for inflammatory, ileocecal Crohn's disease. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of patients intervened at four referral hospitals during 2012-2021 was performed. RESULTS: 211 patients were included. 43% of patients underwent surgery more than 5 years after diagnosis, and 49% had been exposed to at least one biologic agent preoperatively. 89% were operated by laparoscopy, with 1.6% conversion rate. The median length of the resected bowel was 25 cm (7-92) and three patients (1.43%) received a stoma. Median follow-up was 36 (17-70) months. The endoscopic recurrence-free survival proportion at 24, 48, 72, 96, and 120 months was 56%, 52%, 45%, 38%, and 33%, respectively. The clinical recurrence-free survival proportion at 24, 48, 72, 96, and 120 months was 83%, 79%, 76%, 74%, and 74%, respectively. In multivariate analysis, previous biological treatment (HR=2.01; p = 0.001) was associated with a higher risk of overall recurrence. CONCLUSION: Surgery in patients with primary inflammatory ileocecal CD is associated with good postoperative outcomes, low postoperative morbidity with reasonable recurrence rates.

Facing adenocarcinoma of distal esophagus and esophagogastric junction: a CROSS versus FLOT propensity score-matched analysis of oncological outcomes in a high-volume institution.

Multimodality treatments are the gold standard for advanced resectable gastroesophageal cancer. Neoadjuvant CROSS and perioperative FLOT regimens are adopted for distal esophageal and esophagogastric junction adenocarcinoma (DE/EGJ AC). At present, none of the approaches is clearly superior in the context of a curative-intent multimodal treatment. We analyzed consecutive patients treated with CROSS or FLOT and surgery for DE/EGJ AC between August 2017 and October 2021. Propensity score matching was performed to balance baseline characteristics of patients. The primary endpoint was disease-free survival. Secondary endpoints included overall survival, 90-day morbidity/mortality rates, pathological complete response, margin-negative resection, and pattern of recurrence. Of the 111 patients included, 84 were correctly matched after PSM, 42 in each group. The 2-year DFS rate was 54.2% versus 64.1% in the CROSS and FLOT group, respectively (p = 0.182). Patients in the CROSS group showed a lower number of harvested LN when compared to the FLOT group (29.5 versus 39.0 respectively, p = 0.005). A higher rate of distal nodal recurrence was found in the CROSS group (23.8% versus 4.8%, p = 0.026). Although not significant, the CROSS group showed a trend toward higher rate of isolated distant recurrence (33.3% versus 21.4% respectively, p = 0.328), together with a higher rate of early recurrence (23.8% versus 9.5% respectively, p = 0.062). FLOT and CROSS regimens for DE/EGJ AC offer similar DFS and OS, together with comparable morbidity/mortality rates. CROSS regimen was associated with a higher distant nodal recurrence rate. Results of ongoing randomized clinical trials are awaited.