Long-term outcome of Crohn's disease patients with upper gastrointestinal stricture: A GETAID study.

BACKGROUND

There are few data concerning patients with Crohn's disease (CD) complicated by a stricture of the upper gastrointestinal tract (UGT).

AIMS

We evaluated the outcome and management of CD patients complicated by a stricture of the UGT.

METHODS

We performed a retrospective multicenter study including all CD patients with a non-passable symptomatic UGT stricture on endoscopy. Primary outcome measure was surgery-free survival from diagnosis of stricture. Efficacy of medical, endoscopic, and surgical treatments, and identification of predictors of surgery were also evaluated.

RESULTS

60 CD patients with an UGT stricture were included. 60% of the strictures were located in the duodenum. With a median follow-up of 5.5 (IQR: 3.0-12.0) years since stricture diagnosis, surgical-free survival was 75% and 64% at 1 and 5 years, respectively. At the end of the follow up, 27 (45%) patients underwent surgery. 77 endoscopic procedures were performed in 30 patients with an immediate success of 81% and a clinical benefit in 84% of the procedures. In multivariate analysis, anti-TNF treatment initiation was associated with a reduced risk of surgery.

CONCLUSION

CD UGT strictures are mainly located in the duodenum. Medical and endoscopic treatments allow to avoid surgery in half of the patients.