Endoscopic management of intestinal strictures in Crohn’s disease: Current status and future perspectives

Table 6 Selected key evidence studies of endoscopic stricturotomy in Crohn’s disease strictures

Ref.	Design	Patients/comparison	Key outcomes for ESt	Complications (ESt)
Lan and Shen[85], 2018	Retrospective case-control (anastomotic CD strictures)	21 ESt vs 164 EBD	Technical success 100%; surgery 9.5% (vs 33.5% with EBD)	Bleeding 8.8%; perforation 0%
Abreu et al[84], 2026	Systematic review	1040 IBD patients (470 CD)	Technical success 88%-100%; clinical success 50%-96%; re-intervention rates [endoscopic (18.2%-66.6%) or surgical (0%-18.2%)]	Bleeding 11.8%; perforation < 2%
Jaber et al[86], 2024	Meta-analysis	287 patients (640 procedures)	Technical success 96.4%; clinical success 62%; re-intervention rates [endoscopic (44.2%) or surgical (16.4%)]	Bleeding 10.5%; perforation 3.5%
Lan et al[87], 2019	Retrospective (anastomotic CD strictures)	35 ESt vs 147 ICR	Surgery-free survival comparable (surgery rates 11.3% vs 10.2%)	Major adverse events 10.2% (vs 31.9%)
Lan et al[88], 2020	Retrospective (primary distal ileal strictures)	13 ESt vs 32 ICR	Technical success 100%; comparable surgery-free survival (surgery rates 15.4% vs 18.8%)	Lower complications 6.9% (vs 25%)

ESt: Endoscopic stricturotomy; CD: Crohn’s disease; EBD: Endoscopic balloon dilation; IBD: Inflammatory bowel disease; ICR: Ileo-colonic resection.