OBJECTIVETo investigate the risk factors of early surgical intervention in Crohn's disease (CD) patients with spontaneous intra-abdominal abscess.

METHODSClinical data of 94 CD patients with spontaneous intra-abdominal abscess admitted to The Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University between May 2008 and Dec 2015 were analyzed retrospectively. Univariate and multivariate analysis were applied to evaluate the early surgery risk of CD patients with spontaneous intra-abdominal abscess using logistic regression model.

RESULTSA total of 94 eligible patients were identified from our registry, including 70 males and 24 females. The mean age at the diagnosis of CD and at development of abscess was 28.4 years and 30.4 years old, respectively. The median duration of CD between the diagnosis and development of an abscess was 3 years. According to the Montreal classification, L3 (ileocolonic) was the most common disease location (81.9%) in these patients. Most of the patients(76.6%) developed a single abscess, while multiple abscesses were detected in 22 patients(23.4%). Forty-four patients(46.8%) underwent surgery within 60 days after hospitalization due to spontaneous intra-abdominal abscess complicating CD. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that history of abdominal surgery(OR=3.23, 95%CI:1.12 to 9.31, P=0.030), concomitant intestinal stenosis (OR=3.52, 95%CI:1.26 to 9.85, P=0.017) and concomitant intestinal fistula (OR=4.31, 95%CI:1.25 to 14.80, P=0.020) were the independent risk factors of early surgical intervention, while enteral nutrition (OR=0.18, 95%CI:0.05 to 0.62, P=0.007) was the independent protective factor.

CONCLUSIONSNearly half of CD patients with spontaneous intra-abdominal abscess will undergo early surgical intervention. Patients with history of abdominal surgery, concomitant intestinal stenosis and concomitant intestinal fistula have higher risk of early surgical intervention, and appropriate application of enteral nutrition may reduce the risk.