Table 4.
Baseline disease characteristics, endoscopic balloon dilation procedure, need for further dilations, escalation of medical therapy and need for surgery between asymptomatic and symptomatic cohorts n (%)
| Characteristic | Asymptomatic strictures1 (n = 53) | Symptomatic strictures1 (n = 25) | P value |
| Female/male (n) | 25/28 | 16/9 | 0.165 |
| Disease duration in years (median; min-max) | 17.9 (2.9-45.3) | 19.9 (5.3-52.1) | 0.955 |
| Follow-up since 1st dilation in years (median; min-max) | 3.1 (1.3-6.8) | 3.9 (2.1-6.7) | 0.068 |
| Time between 1st and 2nd dilation in days (median; min-max) | 668 (157-2074) | 877 (152-2242) | 0.790 |
| Age at index colonoscopy (mean ± SD) | 41.7 ± 13.8 | 43 ± 9.3 | 0.425 |
| Montreal classification | |||
| Age at diagnosis | 0.998 | ||
| A1 | 7 (14) | 3 (13.6) | |
| A2 | 36 (72) | 16 (72.7) | |
| A3 | 7 (14) | 3 (13.6) | |
| Disease location | 0.319 | ||
| L1 | 22 (44) | 9 (40.9) | |
| L2 | 5 (10) | - | |
| L3 | 21 (42) | 9 (40.9) | |
| L1-4 | 1 (2) | 4 (18.2) | |
| L3-4 | 1 (2) | - | |
| Behavior | 0.833 | ||
| B1 | 4 (8) | 1 (4.5) | |
| B2 | 28 (56) | 12 (54.5) | |
| B3 | 18 (36) | 9 (40.9) | |
| Perianal disease | 15 (30) | 6 (27.3) | 0.815 |
| Smoking habits | 0.761 | ||
| Non-smoker | 24 (52.2) | 8 (42.1) | |
| Ex-smoker | 8 (17.4) | 4 (21.2) | |
| Current smoker | 14 (30.4) | 7 (36.8) | |
| Previous surgery (ileocecal resection/right hemicolectomy) | 27 (50.9) | 15 (60) | 0.454 |
| Medication at index colonoscopy | |||
| Thiopurines | 33 (62.3) | 13 (52) | 0.390 |
| Anti-TNFα | 21 (39.6) | 14 (56) | 0.175 |
| Combo | 13 (24.5) | 9 (36) | 0.293 |
| C-reactive protein | 6.2 (0.2-35.5) | 3.2 (0.3-19.4) | 0.351 |
| Calprotectin | 107 (18.2-837) | 340 (5.9-1356) | 0.449 |
| Lactoferrin | 7.1 (1.1-102.6) | 37.6 (4.0-204) | 0.071 |
| Therapeutic success | 52 (98.1) | 25 (100%) | 0.377 |
| Balloon diameter (median; min - max) | 18 (10-18) | 18 (13.5-18) | 0.201 |
| Adverse events | 0 (0) | 1 (4) | 0.129 |
| Need to repeat dilation | 27 (50.9) | 15 (60) | 0.454 |
| Number of dilations (median; min - max) | 2 (1-5) | 2 (1-5) | 0.463 |
| Escalation of medical therapy after dilation | 13 (27.7) | 8 (34.8) | 0.541 |
| Need for surgery after dilation | 2 (4) | 1 (4.2) | 0.973 |
1
Two patients had no information regarding presence of obstructive symptoms (one in each group). TNFα: Tumor necrosis factor α.