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Crohn's disease (CD) is a chronic inflammatory disease mainly affecting the gastrointestinal tract. With the increased availability of modalities in the last two decades, the treatment of CD has advanced remarkably. Although medical treatment is the mainstay of therapy, most patients require surgery during the course of their illness, especially those who experience complications. Nutritional optimization and ERAS implementation are crucial for patients with CD who require surgical intervention to reduce postoperative complications. The increased surgical risk was found to be associated with the use of corticosteroids, but the association of surgical risk with immunomodulators, biologic therapy, such as anti‐TNF mediations, anti‐integrin medications, and anti‐IL 12/23 was low in certainty. Decisions about preoperative medication must be made on an individual case‐dependent basis. Preoperative imaging studies can assist in the planning of appropriate surgical strategies and approaches. However, patients must be informed of any alterations to their treatment. In summary, the management of perioperative medications and surgery‐related decision‐making should be individualized and patient‐centered based on a multidisciplinary approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: No universal consensus exists on the management of intraperitoneal anastomosis leakage after colonic surgery. The aim of the study was to evaluate the outcomes of laparoscopic reintervention without stoma creation for intraperitoneal leaks after colonic surgery. Material and Methods: Single tertiary center study conducted from January 2010 to December 2020. 54 patients with intraperitoneal leakage were divided into 2 groups according to whether they received a stoma (n = 37) or not (n = 17) during laparoscopic reintervention. Short term outcome was analyzed. Results: Patients in the no stoma group had lower American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score (P =.009), lower Acute Physiology And Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) score (5 vs. 10; P <.001) compared with the stoma group. Intensive care unit admission (43.2% vs. 5.8%; P =.006) and major complications (35.1% vs. 5.8%; P =.015) occurred more in the stoma group compared to the no stoma group. After multivariate logistic regression analysis, initial surgical procedure (P =.001) and APACHE II score (P =.039) were significant predictors of no stoma. The APACHE II score(P =.035) was an independent predictor of major complications. Finally, Receiver Operating Characteristic curve analysis showed that the cutoff value of APACHE II score for no stoma was 7.5. Conclusions: In our study, APACHE II score was an independent predictor of stoma formation and the cutoff value of APACHE II score for no stoma was 7.5. Our results need to be confirmed by larger and randomized studies. In particular, a specific APACHE II threshold to omit a stoma in this setting remains to be determined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taiwan has a lower prevalence of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and a higher prevalence of tuberculosis (TB) infection than Western countries. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of latent TB (LTB) and active TB infection in IBD patients treated with biological agents. From January 2000 to September 2018, we retrospectively collected data from IBD patients treated with biological agents at a tertiary referral center. Patients underwent a QuantiFERON-TB Gold test (QFT) to screen for TB infection before and after biological treatment courses. The diagnostic age, sex, body mass index, hepatitis B virus infection, biochemistry profile, treatment regimens, and the results of the QFT were analyzed. Overall, 130 IBD patients who received biological treatment were enrolled. The results of the QFT before biological treatment were determined in 120 patients (92%); of these, 10 were positive (8%), 110 were negative (85%), and 10 were indeterminate (9%). Six patients demonstrated seroconversion after biological treatment, as determined by the QFT. Three patients (2.4%) developed active pulmonary TB after biological treatment. In subgroup analysis, the positive QFT patients had a trend of lower baseline serum C-reactive protein and erythrocyte sedimentation rate levels than the negative QFT group. The present study demonstrates that the prevalence of LTB before and after biological treatment is higher in Taiwan than in most Western countries and similar to other Asian countries. Therefore, screening and monitoring of TB infection are necessary for IBD patients before and during biological treatments in Taiwan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/aim: The effect of pelvic neoadjuvant radiotherapy (nRT) for stage M1a rectal adenocarcinoma patients treated with systemic therapy followed by proctectomy and metastasectomy was scarcely investigated in the literatures., Patients and Methods: The eligible rectal cancer patients diagnosed between 2011-2019 were identified via the Taiwan Cancer Registry. In the primary analysis, we used propensity score weighting to balance observable potential confounders and compared the hazard ratio (HR) of death for the nRT group vs. without RT group. We also compared the incidence of rectal cancer mortality (IRCM) and performed various supplementary analyses., Results: Our primary analyses included 145 patients. nRT was associated with improved OS (HR=0.51, p=0.01). The numerical trends remained similar for IRCM and in supplementary analyses., Conclusion: nRT was associated with improved OS in our study population., (Copyright © 2023 International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. George J. Delinasios), All rights reserved.)

Crohn's disease (CD) is a chronic inflammatory disease mainly affecting the gastrointestinal tract. With the increased availability of modalities in the last two decades, the treatment of CD has advanced remarkably. Although medical treatment is the mainstay of therapy, most patients require surgery during the course of their illness, especially those who experience complications. Nutritional optimization and ERAS implementation are crucial for patients with CD who require surgical intervention to reduce postoperative complications. The increased surgical risk was found to be associated with the use of corticosteroids, but the association of surgical risk with immunomodulators, biologic therapy, such as anti-TNF mediations, anti-integrin medications, and anti-IL 12/23 was low in certainty. Decisions about preoperative medication must be made on an individual case-dependent basis. Preoperative imaging studies can assist in the planning of appropriate surgical strategies and approaches. However, patients must be informed of any alterations to their treatment. In summary, the management of perioperative medications and surgery-related decision-making should be individualized and patient-centered based on a multidisciplinary approach., (© 2022 The Authors. Annals of Gastroenterological Surgery published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of The Japanese Society of Gastroenterology.)

Anastomotic leaks (ALs) are associated with increased perioperative morbidity and mortality, prolonged length of stay, higher readmission rates, the potential need for further operative interventions, and unintended permanent stomas; resulting in increased hospital costs and resource use, and decreased quality of life. This review article is to present definition, diagnosis and management strategies for AL after rectal surgery., Competing Interests: Conflicts of Interest: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare., (2019 Journal of Gastrointestinal Oncology. All rights reserved.)