Association between preoperative biologic use and surgical morbidity in patients with Crohn’s disease

Purpose We evaluated the influence of preoperative treatments with biologics on surgical morbidity in patients with Crohn’s disease (CD). Methods We reviewed the surveillance data of patients with CD who underwent surgery between April 2018 and April 2021. The possible risk factors for morbidity were analyzed. Results A total of 305 surgically treated patients were included. Anti-TNF alpha agents and ustekinumab were used in 92 and 27 patients, respectively, within 12 weeks before surgery. There were no cases of mortality. In total, 70/305 (23.0%) patients developed a complication, and 42/305 (13.8%) patients developed a surgical site infection (SSI) (17 incisional SSIs and 35 organ/space SSIs). Current smoking status (OR 3.44), emergent/urgent surgery (OR 6.85), and abdominoperineal resection (APR) (OR 14.93) were identified as risk factors for total complications. Penetrating disease (OR 14.55) was identified as a risk factor for incisional SSIs. Current smoking status (OR 7.09), an American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score greater than 3 (OR 5.85), a postoperative blood sugar level over 155 mg/dL (OR 4.37), and APR (OR 207.95) were identified as risk factors for organ/space SSIs. Conclusions No correlation between preoperative treatment with biologics and surgical mortality or morbidity was found. However, we should perform further analyses on a larger number of patients because the analyses may be limited by selection bias for treatment and several confounding factors.