Quality of life after total colectomy with ileorectal anastomosis or proctocolectomy and ileal pouch-anal anastomosis for familial adenomatous polyposis

Background: Knowledge of postoperative health status is important in decisi on-making about the type of operation necessary in patients with familial a denomatous polyposis (FAP). This study compared the quality of life (QoL) b etween patients with an ileorectal anastomosis (group 1) and those with an ileal pouch-anal anastomosis (group 2), Methods: QoL was assessed with both a generic questionnaire (Short Form-36 Health Survey; SF-36) and a disease-specific questionnaire (European Organi zation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Colorectal QoL Questionnaire; E ORTC QLQ-CR38), The SF-36 consists of 36 items representing eight generic h ealth domains, and the EORTC QLQ-CR38 comprises 38 items representing disea se-specific health domains. Both questionnaires were distributed among 323 patients with FAP known. at the Dutch Polyposis Registry who had previously undergone either operation, The results of the SF-36 were compared with th e scores of age- and sex-matched respondents from the general population. Results: Some 279 patients (86 per cent), 161 in group 1 and 118 in group 2 , completed the questionnaire. Generic and disease-specific QoL was the sam e for groups 1 and 2. The SF-36 scores of both groups were significantly lo wer than those of the general population. Conclusion: There were no differences with respect to health status between patients in groups 1 and 2, and preference for either procedure cannot be based on QoL.