Purpose: To investigate the efficacy and safety of planned postoperative adalimumab (ADA) therapy for Japanese patients with Crohn's disease (CD).
Methods: The subjects of this study were 26 patients who underwent bowel resection for CD. All patients received subcutaneous injections of ADA 160/80 mg at the time of surgery and 2 weeks later, followed by 40 mg every 2 weeks thereafter. The primary endpoint of this study was the incidence of endoscopic recurrence, defined by Rutgeerts endoscopic recurrence scale ≥ i2, 1 year after surgery.
Results: After the median follow-up period of 41.3 months, the median number of treatments with ADA was 56 and the median time-to-treatment failure was 25.6 months. Endoscopic recurrence was observed in 34.6% of the patients 1 year after surgery. Univariate analyses showed that preoperative ADA therapy was significantly associated with endoscopic recurrence. Clinical recurrence developed in 16.7% of the patients within 1 year after surgery. Secondary surgery for recurrence was not required. Although adverse events (≥ grade 3) were experienced by 15.4% of patients, none was withdrawn from this study.
Conclusion: Planned postoperative ADA therapy reduced the incidence of endoscopic and clinical recurrence after bowel resection in Japanese patients with CD.
Trial registration: This trial is registered with the University Hospital Medical Information Network (UMIN000007514).
Keywords: Adalimumab; Crohn’s disease; Endoscopic recurrence; Postoperative therapy.