Objective: Recurrence of Crohn's disease quite inevitably occurs after resection of distal small bowel and proximal colon, involving the neoterminal ileum close to the anastomosis. Oral 5-aminosalicylic acid (5-ASA) administered soon after surgery delays recurrence and reduces its severity. We recently observed that in operated patients submitted to prophylactic treatment with oral 5-ASA the rate of recurrence was significantly higher in those with end-to-end anastomosis than in those with other types of anastomosis (end-to-side, side-to-side). The hypothesis investigated in the present study was that patients with end-to-side or side-to-side anastomosis would benefit from a higher mucosal concentration of 5-ASA with respect to patients with end-to-end anastomosis. Therefore, the mucosal 5-ASA concentration was measured in the perianastomotic area of both groups.
Methods: The study was carried out in 19 patients submitted to radical surgery for Crohn's ileitis or ileocolitis, under oral prophylactic treatment with 5-ASA (Asacol). All patients were on regular endoscopic follow-up and were free of recurrence. Two biopsies were collected 3 cm from the anastomosis, in the neoterminal ileum, and two biopsies were collected at the colonic site 3 cm below the anastomosis. 5-ASA concentrations (ng/mg) were measured in tissue homogenates by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with electrochemical detection.
Results: The mucosal concentration of 5-ASA in the neoterminal ileum was significantly lower in patients with end-to-end anastomosis than in those with other types of anastomosis (median values: 29.4 ng/mg vs 92.9 ng/mg respectively; p < 0.001). Six of 10 patients (60%) with end-to-end anastomosis, but none of the nine patients with other types of anastomosis, showed 5-ASA mucosal concentrations <40 ng/mg at the neoterminal ileum. On the contrary, no patients with end-to-end anastomosis showed mucosal concentrations of 5-ASA >90 ng/mg, compared with the 57% of patients in the group with other types of anastomosis. No differences were observed for colonic biopsies.
Conclusions: The different mucosal concentrations in these two groups may be explained by the difference in segmental transit time induced by the different anastomotic configurations. A slower preanastomotic transit time, demonstrated in patients with end-to-side or side-to-side anastomosis, could offer a prolonged contact time between the intestinal content and the mucosa, resulting in an increase in drug absorption.