Purpose: To evaluate risk factors for early postoperative complications in patients with Crohn's disease (CD) after extensive colorectal resection excluding mere ileocecal resection or right hemicolectomy at a university center.
Methods: A retrospective analysis of the prospectively maintained database for surgical patients with CD at our institution was performed. All consecutive patients operated between December 2009 and December 2017 were included.
Results: In total, 126 patients were eligible for this study. Most common types of operations performed were subtotal colectomy or proctocolectomy (37.3%) and resections of the rectum (34.1%) or the sigmoid colon (14.3%). Major postoperative complications occurred in 29 patients (23.0%). The rate of local septic complications (anastomotic leak, postoperative abscess) was 11.1%. In univariate analysis, low preoperative albumin, elevated preoperative C-reactive protein (CRP), and emergency surgery were factors associated with major postoperative complications. When multivariable analysis was performed, low preoperative albumin was the only independent risk factor for the occurrence of major postoperative complications (p = 0.0033; OR 0.899). The cut-off value for albumin was 32.6 g/L.
Conclusions: In this large cohort of consecutive patients undergoing surgery of the colorectum in CD, the rate of major postoperative complications was considerably higher compared to our recently published data from patients with ileocecal resection or right hemicolectomy. Preoperative albumin is the only independent risk factor for the occurrence of major postoperative complications. Preoperative albumin levels > 32.6 g/L significantly reduce the risk for postoperative complications.
Keywords: Anastomotic leak; Colectomy; Crohn’s disease; Left hemicolectomy; Postoperative complications; Rectal surgery.