Although restorative proctocolectomy with ileal pouch-anal anastomosis (IPAA) has become the surgical treatment of choice for patients with refractory ulcerative colitis (UC) or UC with dysplasia, surgical, inflammatory, and noninflammatory adverse sequelae are common. Pouchitis, representing a spectrum of disease phenotypes, is the most common long-term complication of IPAA. De novo Crohn disease (CD) of the pouch can occur in patients with a preoperative diagnosis of UC. Differential diagnosis between fibrostenotic or fistulizing CD and surgery-associated strictures, sinuses, and fistulas often requires a combined assessment of symptom, endoscopy, histology, radiography, and examination under anesthesia. There is a role for endoscopic therapy for stricturing complications of IPAA. Chronic antibiotic-refractory pouchitis, refractory cuffitis, as well as fibrostenotic or fistulizing CD of the pouch are the leading late-onset causes for pouch failure.
KEYWORDS: Complication, ileal pouch, inflammatory bowel disease, restorative proctocolectomyObjectives: On completion of this article, the reader should be able to summarize the diagnosis, differential diagnosis, and management of complex ileal pouch disorders.Even if the era for biological therapy for inflammation bowel disease (IBD) has arrived, restorative proctocolectomy with ileal pouch-anal anastomosis (IPAA) is still the surgical treatment of choice for the majority of patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) who fail medical therapy or develop dysplasia or neoplasia as well as for patients with familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP). Although this bowel-anatomy-altering procedure improves patients' health-related quality of life and substantially reduces the risk for UC-associated neoplasia, mechanical/surgical, inflammatory, and functional complications are common. Some of these complications can lead to pouch failure with pouch excision or permanent diversion. In a meta-analysis of 43 studies of 9,317 patients from mostly tertiary-care settings, the frequency of pouch failure was estimated to be 7% with a median follow-up of 37 months; the frequency increased to 9% after more than 60 months. The most common causes for early-onset pouch failure are pouch leaks, abscess, and pelvic sepsis.2,3 Whereas the leading causes for late-onset pouch failure are chronic pouchitis, Crohn disease (CD) of the pouch, 4 refractory cuffitis, 5 and chronic deep, complex pouch sinus.6 Recognition and appropriate diagnosis of these pouch-related conditions are imperative for proper management and prognosis.