Background: The frequency of Crohn's disease in China is increasing, but few reports are available on clinical features, phenotypes according to the Montreal classification, or risk factors for surgery in mainland China.
Objective: This study aimed to assess clinical presentation, phenotypes according to the Montreal classification, and potential risk factors for initial surgery in patients with Crohn's disease in southern China.
Design: This was an observational study designed as a retrospective analysis of a historical cohort.
Settings: The study was conducted at a tertiary referral hospital, Guangzhou, China.
Patients: Medical records of 212 consecutive patients with Crohn's disease were reviewed; data from 205 patients who met inclusion criteria were analyzed.
Main outcome measures: The value of age, location, and behavior of disease according to the Montreal system, smoking behavior, and other clinical variables as potential risk factors in predicting the requirement for initial surgery was assessed by use of Cox regression analysis.
Results: A total of 205 patients were studied. Abdominal pain (181 patients, 88.3%) was the most common clinical presentation. At the time of diagnosis, age was between 17 and 40 years in 145 patients (70.7%). The Montreal classification of disease location was L3 (ileocolonic) in 114 patients (55.6%), disease behavior was classified as inflammatory in 133 patients (64.9%). During the course of their disease (median, 4 years; range, 1-21 years), 79 patients (38.5%) required bowel resection. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that the overall cumulative rate of primary bowel surgery was 17.6% at 1 year after onset of symptoms, 20.3% at 2 years, 35.2% at 5 years, and 58.3% at 10 years. In our final Cox model, stricturing (HR, 3.67; 95% CI, 2.14-6.29; P < .001), penetrating behavior (HR, 4.60; 95% CI, 2.58-8.22; P < .001), and smoking habit (HR, 2.02; 95% CI, 1.15-3.53; P = .014) were significantly associated with an increased risk for bowel resection.
Limitations: The study was limited by its retrospective nature.
Conclusions: In Chinese patients with Crohn's disease, abdominal pain is the most common clinical presentation, and the most common phenotypes are age 17 to 40 years at diagnosis, ileocolonic disease location, and inflammatory disease behavior. More than one-third of patients require surgery at a median of 4 years after onset of symptoms. Stricturing, penetrating disease, and smoking are associated with an increased risk of requiring bowel resection.