Background
Stenosis, anastomotic stenosis, Crohn’s disease, stenosis
STENOSIS, RECURRENCE, SHORT BOWEL SYNDROME, DILATION, STENOSIS, COMPLICATIONS
Stenosis is one of the most frequent complications in patients with Crohn’s disease (CD), causing greater morbidity and increasing the likelihood of repeated surgery and short bowel syndrome [In many cases, a surgical approach allows for the removal of the entire inflamed intestine. However, the percentage of post-surgical recurrence 1 year after surgery is 80–85% [A large number of studies have shown that the patient’s quality of life improves when CD is properly controlled, through either medical or surgical treatment [A Spanish multicentre study coordinated by researchers involved in the current project, which includes one of the largest published series of EBD-treated CD patients, showed that therapeutic success with EBD in de novo stenosis was achieved in a large percentage of cases, similar to the results obtained with post-surgical stenosis (73% vs 84%) [In addition, CD stenosis can be treated effectively with self-expandable metal stents (SEMS), and it has been suggested that these may be particularly indicated in patients who are refractory to balloon dilation, including both de novo and anastomotic stenosis patients [This work was conceived as an exploratory proof-of-concept study, given that there are currently no studies comparing surgical and endoscopic approaches, making it difficult to calculate the adequate sample size. The aims of the study are to compare the impact on quality of life, complications, costs, and therapeutic efficacy of endoscopic (EBD/SEMS) vs surgical treatment for de novo stenosis in patients with CD.