Purpose: The postoperative course of intestinal Behçet's disease was studied in nine patients who had undergone a total of 15 operations due to intestinal ulcers.
Methods: These patients were followed up for an average of 6.0 years (range, 1 year, 3 months to 13 years, 10 months) after each operation and they were repeatedly examined by double-contrast radiography and/or colonofiberscopy.
Results: Recurrence of intestinal ulcers was observed in 12 (80 percent) of the 15 surgical cases. The incidence (50 percent) of postoperative recurrence in six cases in which intraoperative endoscopy revealed no abnormality in the retained intestine was lower than that (100 percent) in nine cases without this examination. Recurrent intestinal lesions in most cases were demonstrated as multiple aphthoid ulcers in the ileum near the ileocolectomy, or as one or two deep ulcers at the ileocolectomy site. The recurrent ulcers were successfully treated by various medical therapies, but the effectiveness of these therapies was only temporary.
Conclusion: In the case of this disease, intraoperative endoscopy may be useful for preventing postoperative recurrence and periodic follow-up examination with radiography and endoscopy should be performed, even after surgery.