Endoscopic treatment with self-expanding metal stents for Crohn's disease strictures

Balloon dilation (with or without steroid injection) is the endoscopic treatment of choice for short strictures in Crohn's disease (CD). The placement of a stent has only rarely been reported in this setting, and it may be a good alternative. To describe the efficacy of temporary placement of a self-expanding metallic stent (SEMS) in the endoscopic treatment of symptomatic strictures in CD. We included 17 CD patients treated with SEMS (4 partially covered SEMS and 21 fully covered SEMS) for symptomatic strictures refractory to medical and/or endoscopic treatment. We placed 25 stents in 17 patients with stenosis (