Antitumor necrosis factor-α therapy for early postoperative recurrence of gastrointestinal Behcet's disease:: Report of a case

Behcet's disease is a chronic, relapsing, systemic inflammatory disease characterized by recurrent oral and genital ulcers, skin lesions, and ocular lesions. Gastrointestinal tract is occasionally involved in Behcet's disease, and the typical gastrointestinal lesions are punched-out, discrete mucosal ulcerations. Corticosteroids, 5-aminosalicylic acid derivatives, thalidomide, and immunomodulators have been used to treat Behcet's disease. Some patients with gastrointestinal Behcet's disease undergo surgical management because of the refractoriness to these medical measures or complications, such as perforation and bleeding. Even after successful surgery, postoperative complications, such as poor healing of the anastomosis site and postoperative ulcer recurrence, are so common that repeated operations are frequently required. However, there have been few reports addressing the most effective way to reduce and treat postoperative complications and recurrences. We describe a patient with Behcet's disease involving the distal ileum, who was treated with infliximab as rescue therapy of an unhealed anastomosis site and early recurrent ulcers after a distal ileocecectomy because of persistent bleeding. Abdominal pain from recurrent ulcers improved by the fifth day after the infliximab infusion and almost disappeared by the second week. An ileocolonoscopy performed 15 days after the infliximab infusion showed near complete healing of the recurrent ulcers. This report suggests that infliximab may be an effective novel therapy for the management of early postoperative complications and recurrences in gastrointestinal Behcet's disease.