Endoscopic stricturotomy in the treatment of anastomotic strictures in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and non-IBD patients.

BACKGROUNDS

Endoscopic stricturotomy (ESt) has been shown to be effective in treating inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)-associated anastomotic strictures. However, the outcome of ESt in benign, non-IBD conditions has not been described. The aim of this study was to evaluate the outcome of ESt in the management of IBD and non-IBD-associated strictures.

METHODS

Data of all consecutive IBD and non-IBD patients with benign anastomotic strictures treated with ESt from 2009 to 2016 were extracted. The primary outcomes were surgery-free survival and procedure-related complications.

RESULTS

A total of 49 IBD and 15 non-IBD patients were included in this study. The IBD group included 25 patients with Crohn's disease and 24 with ulcerative colitis and ileal pouches. Underlying diseases in the non-IBD group included colorectal cancer (=7), diverticulitis (=5), large bowel prolapse (=2), and constipation (=1). Immediate technical success was achieved in all patients in both groups. Bleeding complications occurred on five occasions (4.7% per procedure) in the IBD group, while no complication occurred in the non-IBD group (=0.20). Stricture improvement on follow-up endoscopy was found in 10 (20.4%) and 5 (33.3%) patients in the IBD and non-IBD groups, respectively (=0.32). Six (12.2%) patients in the IBD group and four (26.7%) patients in the non-IBD group eventually required stricture-related surgery (=0.23). IBD patients appeared to have a higher tendency for maintaining surgery-free after the procedure than non-IBD patients (=0.08).

CONCLUSIONS

Endoscopic stricturotomy was shown to have comparable outcomes, though non-IBD patients seem to have a higher need for subsequent surgery but a lower complication rate than IBD patients.