Predictors for developing intestinal failure in patients with Crohn's disease.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Intestinal failure (IF) is a rare but devastating complication of Crohn's disease (CD). The clinical and surgical factors that predispose to IF are poorly understood. The aim of this study was to define clinical factors that predispose to IF.
METHODS: A retrospective case-control study was performed using consecutive CD patients with IF who were identified from a prospective database. Local population-based controls were selected with which to compare demographic, phenotypic, and clinical outcomes.
RESULTS: Eighty-two CD patients requiring long-term intravenous fluids or nutrition were studied. Diagnosis at age 16 years or less (P = 0.01) and a family history of inflammatory bowel disease (P = 0.02) were associated with a significantly higher risk for developing IF. Among the IF group, 53% had perioperative complications from intestinal resections contributing to long-term IF. Furthermore, these patients had more abdominal surgeries (P = 0.05) and stricturing disease was less common than in patients with primary active CD (P = 0.01). IF due to primary active CD was associated with penetrating behavior (P = 0.02) and early age at first surgery (P = 0.004). The need for intravenous nutrition as opposed to intravenous fluids correlated inversely with small intestine length (P < 0.001).
CONCLUSIONS: CD resulting in IF relates to earlier age at diagnosis, family history of inflammatory bowel disease, stricturing disease, younger age at first surgery, and operative complications. These factors deserve consideration when planning therapy for CD patients.