Therapeutic dilation was performed endoscopically using a balloon dilator on a Crohn's disease patient with stricture of the sigmoid colon. The patient was a 43-year-old man who developed Crohn's ileitis in 1984 at age 31. He has been treated with corticosteroids and remission was obtained.
He was admitted to our hospital complaining of left lower quadrant pain in May 1994. Colonoscopic examination showed stenosis of the lower sigmoid colon that could not be passed throuh by the scope. Barium enema showed a 3 cm length stenosis, so endoscopic balloon dilation (Micrivasive Regiflex TTS) was performed. The lesion showed improvement permitting the pass of the scope and the patient referred no complains. Actually one year after the procedure no recurrence of the stenosis has occured.
We think that this procedure is worth to be try before surgical treatment in pathologies like Crohn's desease that present high incidence rate of re-operation.
