Prepouch ileitis may increase the risk of pouch failure in patients with inflammatory bowel disease, but it doesn’t seem to increase the likelihood of developing Crohn’s disease, according to a small retrospective analysis. In order to determine long-term outcomes in patients with prepouch ileitis, researchers followed 34 patients over time, 31 of whom were evaluable by the end of the study. They found:

• All the patients also had pouchitis when they were diagnosed with prepouch ileitis.
• 7 patients (23%) developed pouch failure, 5 who had chronic pouchitis and 2 who had small bowel obstruction that was brought on by prepouch stricture.
• Clinicians could only find evidence suggesting Crohn’s disease in 2 patients at long-term follow-up.