Surgical Treatment of Complication of Regional Enteritis

In a recent study we1reviewed our experiences with the surgical treatment of 257 patients seen at the Mayo Clinic during the period 1945 to 1955, inclusive. A postoperative recurrence requiring an additional operation was experienced by 49 patients or an incidence of 19.0%. Fifteen of the 49 patients or 30.6% required a second operation for recurrence, and 4 patients, or 26.6%, required a third operation for recurrence. Therefore, 49 patients underwent 68 additional resections or bypass procedures for complications of recurrent disease. Of these patients with surgically treated recurrences, 77.5% were in good health. The total hospital mortality rate for the 325 procedures for initial and recurrent disease was 2.4%. All patients were followed for a minimum of 5 years after operation. The literature contains recent articles on the results of surgical treatment by Brown and Daffner2in 1958, Colcock and Vansant3in 1960, and Stahlgren