Table 3.
Patient characteristics according to requirement for therapeutic intervention.
| Characteristics | Therapeutic intervention§ | Non-therapeutic intervention | p value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number of patients | 48 | 95 | – |
| Gender (male/female) | 38/10 | 74/21 | .86† |
| Age at diagnosis of stricture (years), mean | 41.3 (21–81) | 39.5 (18–77) | .77‡ |
| Disease duration (years), mean | 15.1 (1–43) | 13.0 (0–41) | .19‡ |
| Disease location (ileal/ileocolonic) | 13/35 | 15/80 | .11† |
| History of surgery (yes/no) | 36/12 | 55/40 | .04† |
| Harvey-Bradshaw index, median | 4.77 (0–13) | 3.99 (0–22) | .01‡ |
| Medications | |||
| 5-amynosalicylic acid | 38 (79.2%) | 70 (73.7%) | .47† |
| Azathioprine | 9 (18.8%) | 15 (15.8%) | .66† |
| 6-mercaptoprine | 15 (31.3%) | 21 (22.1%) | .24† |
| Anti TNF-α antibody | 29 (60.4%) | 51 (53.7%) | .44† |
| Elemental diet | 31 (64.6%) | 30 (31.6%) | <.01† |
| (≧900ml/day) | 12 (25.0%) | 15 (15.8%) | .19† |
| Steroids | 5 (10.4%) | 2 (2.1%) | .03† |
| Blood examinations | |||
| Albumin (g/dl) | 3.71 (1.7–4.9) | 3.77 (1.7–5.0) | .95‡ |
| C-reactive protein (mg/dl) | 0.99 (0.01–5.76) | 0.88 (0.02–16.4) | .97‡ |
| Location of strictures (small intestine/ileocecal valve/anastomosis) | 19/6/23 | 30/38/27 | <.01† |
| Length of strictures (<1cm/≧1cm) | 30/18 | 72/23 | .10† |
| Ulcer on stricture (yes/no) | 31/17 | 56/39 | .51† |
| Addition or change of anti TNF-α antibody after diagnosis of strictures (yes/no) | 9/39 | 15/80 | .66† |
| Addition or change of immunomodulator after diagnosis of strictures (yes/no) | 4/44 | 6/89 | .66† |
†χ2-test.
‡Mann–Whitmey U test.
§Therapeutic intervention group: all patients who had undergone EBD for stenotic symptoms or emergency hospitalisation for decompression, balloon dilatation, or other surgeries for symptomatic stenosis. The latter group includes eight patients who had not undergone EBD.