[Management of enterovesical fistula in patients with Crohn's disease].
OBJECTIVE
Enterovesical fistula in patients with Crohn's disease is intractable. Although there are some reports that the enterovesical fistula were successfully treated conservatively, closure of the fistula cannot always be achieved and surgical intervention may required for those patients. Since surgical closure of entero-entero fistula has a high risk of relapse, the strategy for treating enterovesical fistula has not been established. We evaluated the clinical findings especially in management of enterovesical fistula in Crohn's disease.


METHODS
Two hundred two patients (mean age was 28.4 year old, range 12-69; 152 men and 50 women) were diagnosed as Crohn's disease during a period of 15 years between 1986 and 2000 in our institute. The incidence and the clinical results regarding the diagnosis and the treatment of enterovesical fistula in these patients were retrospectively evaluated.


RESULTS
Seven in 202 patients were diagnosed to have an enterovesical fistula (3.5%, 6 men and 1 woman). The period from the initial diagnosis of Crohn's disease to the recognition of the enterovesical fistula was 11 to 204 months (mean 92.1 months). Enterovesical fistula was revealed and/or visualized by radiological enterography in 6, cystography in 2, cystoscopy in 6, and CT in 4 patients. Surgical interventions were finally conducted in all 7 patients after the failure of conservative treatment for 10 to 146 days (mean 68.2 days). Surgical procedures performed for closing the enterovesical fistula were partial cystectomy with fistulectomy in 5, fistulectomy with bladder wall overlay-suture in 2, and bladder wall overlay-suture alone in 1. No relapse of enterovesical fistula was recognized in any patient in the average observation of 41.6 months.


CONCLUSIONS
Although the treatment of Crohn's disease has been advanced, enterovesical fistula is shown to be resistant to conservative treatment options and it makes patients in unfavorable status for relatively long duration. Our evaluation shown here demonstrated the sufficient surgical results on the closure of enterovesical fistula without any relapse, and was different from the high relapse rate after the surgical management of entero-entero fistula in similar observation period. Surgical interventions of enterovesical fistula caused by Crohn's disease might have an advantage to make diseased patients improved in shorter duration.
Ishii
Daisuke
D
Department of Urology, Kitasato University School of Medicine.
Irie
Akira
A
Tojo
Takanori
T
Tabata
Ken-ichi
K
Minei
Sadanori
S
Yoshida
Kazunari
K
Baba
Shiro
S
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D003424:Crohn Disease / Q000150:complications*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007077:Ileal Diseases / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery*; D007412:Intestinal Fistula / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D001747:Urinary Bladder Fistula / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery*