refractOry prOctItIS: HOw tO ManaGe It 135
Transcription
refractOry prOctItIS: HOw tO ManaGe It 135
135 Refractory proctitis: How to manage it James Lindsay UK Learning objectives 1.Patient with proctitis should be treated with evidence based topical therapy and oral steroids if required. 2. Patients with refractory proctitis require a thorough history of their symptoms, medication history and adherence 3.Initial assessment to confirm diagnosis and exclude alternative diagnoses should include stool culture / C. difficle toxin, endoscopy and histology 4.Therapy with intravenous steroids, Infliximab, oral / rectal ciclosporin or tancrolimus can be considered 5. Open label evidence exists for many other topical therapies but local availability will vary 6.Only treatment that delivers clinical remission should be continued. 1. Initial management of proctitis 2.Investigation of patients with symptoms refractory to conventional management 3. Differential diagnosis of refractory proctitis 4. A systematic approach to managing refractory proctitis The Montreal classification defines ulcerative proctitis as macroscopic colitis extending no further than the recto-sigmoid junction, although some patients may also have a patch of inflammation in the caecum. Patients typically present with the frequent passage of blood and mucous associated with urgency, tenesmus and occasionally incontinence; this may be separate or associated with the passage of formed stool. Proximal constipation may lead to abdominal discomfort and bloating. Symptoms can have a marked effect on the patient’s quality of life. A full medical history should be taken in all patients and include extra-intestinal manifestations, recent travel, contact with enteric infectious illnesses, medication (including antibiotics and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs), smoking habit, sexual practice, family history of IBD, family history of CRC and previous appendectomy. Initial investigations should include endoscopy, stool culture and routine blood tests. Biochemical markers of inflammation such as the CRP do not correlate well with disease activity in proctitis. An ileo-colonoscopy is recommended in all patients to delineate the full extent of disease in patients whose initial diagnosis was made at sigmoidoscopy. Up to 30% of adult patients with ulcerative colitis have proctitis at diagnosis. The incidence of proctitis is lower in patients presenting in childhood who more frequently have extensive disease. Proximal extension of disease may occur during the disease course and must be considered as a cause of symptoms refractory to standard topical therapy. Consensus based guidelines for the management of Ulcerative colitis including proctitis published by the European Crohn’s and Colitis organisation were published in 2006 and have recently been updated. Initial management of proctitis The first line therapy for proctitis is 1g topical mesalazine (5ASA) daily administered as a suppository. A recent Cochrane database systematic review confirmed the superiority of this therapy over placebo for inducing symptomatic, endoscopic and histological response and remission. The pooled odds ratio (POR) for symptomatic remission was 8.3 (8 trials, 95% CI 4.28 to 16.12; P < 0.00001). There is no value in increasing the dose of suppositories above 1g daily and once daily therapy is equally effective as divided doses. Suppositories are more appropriate than enemas in patients with proctitis as they target the site of inflammation. Topical mesalazine is at least twice as effective as topical steroids whether for symptomatic or endoscopic response and therefore Medical & Surgical Gastroenerology II Medical / surgical scenarios in ulcerative colitis Saturday, October 22 14:00 – 16:30 Key messages 136 James Lindsay | Refractory proctitis: How to manage it Saturday, October 22 14:00 – 16:30 topical steroids should be reserved as second line therapy for patients who are intolerant of topical mesalazine. Although topical mesalazine is more effective than oral mesalazine alone the combination of oral and topical mesalazine may be more effective than either alone although there has been no trial that examines this in patients with proctitis alone. Combining topical mesalazine and topical steroids may also be effective. Patients who fail to improve on oral / topical mesalazine and topical corticosteroids should be treated with the addition of oral prednisolone. Refractory proctitis The ECCO consensus statement defines refractory proctitis as persistent symptoms due to colonic inflammation confined to the rectum despite treatment with oral steroids and oral / rectal 5ASA for 6-8 weeks. Refractory proctitis is a common and often troublesome clinical dilemma with a huge impact on quality of life for the patient. There are few appropriately controlled rigorous clinical trials that include patients in this specific situation, and therefore clinical evidence of therapeutic benefit often has to be derived from small open label clinical trials. However, a coherent therapeutic strategy is needed if patients are not to get frustrated by persistent symptoms and frequent alterations to ineffective therapeutic regimens. It is clearly important to consider and identify the aetiology of the refractory disease course. One obvious explanation is that the rectal inflammation is not responsive to the prescribed medication. However, alternative explanations include: 1. Poor adherence to prescribed therapy 2.Delivery of an inadequate concentration of the medication to the affected inflamed mucosa 3. Unrecognised complications (such as proximal constipation or co-existent infection) 4.Inappropriate initial diagnosis / secondary condition in addition to ulcerative proctitis (see Table 1) Initial assessment The initial step is to review current symptoms and treatment to date. It is important to be clear that the clinical scenario is attributable to active proctitis and that the patients have definitively failed an appropriate course of conventional evidence based therapy. This should be followed by a careful discussion about adherence to the prescribed medication. Individual patients may find specific preparations easier to use and therefore tailored prescribing based upon a sound knowledge of the wide range of formulations available may increase adherence. The next step is to reassess the extent and activity of the proctitis and exclude alternative diagnoses such as those listed in table 1. This will always require stool culture, endoscopy and biopsy. An abdominal x-ray can be useful to diagnose proximal constipation; since abnormal intestinal motility induces proximal colonic stasis in patients with distal colitis which may affects drug delivery and also be a cause of abdominal discomfort and bloating. If there is visible faecal loading a laxative should be considered. Finally more detailed investigation as listed in table 1 may be required in specific cases depending on the clinical scenario. Medical therapy The goal of medical therapy for refractory proctitis includes induction and then maintenance of clinical remission. Consideration should be given to admission for assessment and intravenous steroid therapy which has been reported to induce remission in a significant number of patients. Alternatively, there is open label evidence, often from retrospective case reviews, supporting the use of salvage medical therapies such as oral or rectal ciclosporin, oral or rectal tacrolimus, and infliximab. A clear discussion about the quality of the evidence supporting these therapies and the potential side effects is essential. Once clinical remission is achieved patients are likely to require maintenance therapy with azathioprine. Some patients may choose to continue infliximab if it has achieved remission as a maintenance either as monotherapy or in combination with a thiopurine. Immunosuppressive therapy that does not result in clinical remission should not be continued. If disease persists in spite of these approaches, surgery is likely to be the outcome, but if the patient is not acutely ill then the decision should never be precipitate and a range of topical or anecdotal therapies are available. Alicoforsen enemas, a novel topical biological therapy, have shown benefit in distal colitis in placebo controlled phase II trials with sustained clinical improvement and are now available for clinical use. They contain an antisense oligonucleotide designed to inhibit the production of human ICAM-1 protein inhibiting leucocyte adherence, migration and activation. However there are no controlled trials in a defined population with refractory proctitis. Placebo controlled trials have suggested a benefit of short chain fatty acid enemas although difficulties with production and availability limit their widespread use in Europe. Historical small open label trials have suggested benefit from alternative topical therapies such as lidocaine enemas, acetarsal suppositories, Epidermal Growth Factor enemas, and transdermal nicotine patches. The choice depends on local availability and personal preference, since many have to be made up individually by the pharmacy. Finally, there is evidence from retrospective cohort studies that appendicectomy may improve outcome in patients with refractory proctitis. Clinical judgement and an honest appraisal about the impact of symptoms on the quality of life or employment are necessary. Surgery Surgery for refractory proctitis requires an initial subtotal colectomy and ileostomy. Patients may still be troubled by inflammation in the rectal stump and can proceed to a restorative ileoanal pouch or completion proctectomy and permanent ileostomy. Up to 10% of patients who have a colectomy for refractory UC only have distal disease. The outcome of colectomy and pouch formation for distal colitis is usually good with a significant decrease in daytime and nocturnal stool frequency after surgery. This also removes the risk of future dysplasia and colorectal cancer. Reported patient satisfaction is high, with many commenting that they wished they had had the surgery sooner. References No references Policy of full disclosure James Lindsay is on the UK advisory board for Abbott, Ferring, MSD and Shire pharmaceutical companies. He is on the international steering group for Atlantic Pharmaceutical Ltd. He has received honoraria for speaking from Abbott, Ferring, MSD, Shire, and Warner Chilcott. He has received investigator initiated research Medical & Surgical Gastroenerology II Medical / surgical scenarios in ulcerative colitis Refractory proctitis: How to manage it | James Lindsay 137 grants from MSD and Shire and service support grants from Abbott, MSD and Shire. Alternative Diagnosis Feature on history / examintaion Investigation required Haemorrhoids Post defecatory bleeding and proctalgia. Skin tags Rectal exam and proctoscopy Anal Fissure Marked proctalgia with some blood / mucous discharge Rectal exam and proctoscopy Crohnʼs disease of rectum Perianal disease + other symptoms of Crohn`s disease Full endoscopic and radiological assessment and histology Radiation proctitis Previous radiation therapy Sigmoidoscopy Mucosal prolapse / Solitary rectal ulcer syndrome Constipation / evacua tory abnormality Sigmoidoscopy with typical histology Rectal cancer Family history, age, duration of colitis. Palpable mass Sigmoidoscopy and histology Clostridium difficile co-infection Recent hospilisation / antibiotic therapy Stool toxin assay, sigmo idoscopy and biopsy CMV colitis after steroid therapy Flare of disease once on steroids CMV lgG confirms prior exposure, histology will confirm diagnosis Infection (gonorrhoea / lymphogranuloma venereum – LGV) Appropriate contact history, inguinal lymph adenopathy Microscopy and culture of rectal swab / serology. Medical & Surgical Gastroenerology II Medical / surgical scenarios in ulcerative colitis Saturday, October 22 14:00 – 16:30 Table 1: Differential diagnosis for patients with refractory proctitis