Intravenous ustekinumab reinduction as a Crohn's disease rescue strategy following a secondary non-response.

Abstract

Secondary non-response to biological treatments tends to occur in a high number of patients who undergo treatment with antiTNF, and it has also been observed in patients treated with vedolizumab or ustekinumab. The initial rescue guideline recommends intensifying the treatment by reducing the interval or increasing maintenance dosage. In the case of ustekinumab, the patients who began this treatment prior to its approval for treatment of Crohn's disease, were given a subcutaneous induction with no defined guideline and a maintenance dosage of 90 mg every eight weeks. Following secondary non-response in these patients, it was proposed that rescue be undertaken via intravenous reinduction adjusted for weight. We present a case of a patient with Crohn's disease with failure to respond to infliximab, adalimumab and vedolizumab who began treatment with ustekinumab prior to official approval. There was non-response at eight months but remission was achieved after reinduction with ustekinumab, adjusted for weight. This rescue guideline could be a cost-effective way to reinduce remission in this group of patients.