Management of intestinal strictures associated with Crohn's disease (CD) is clinically challenging despite advanced medical therapy directed toward mucosal healing to positively influence the natural course of CD-associated complications. Although medical therapy is available for inflammatory strictures, therapy of fibrostenotic strictures is the domain of surgery and endoscopy. Endoscopic ball...

As lifestyle and diet patterns have become westernized in East Asia, the prevalence of obesity has rapidly increased. Bariatric surgeries, such as Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB), sleeve gastrectomy (SG), and laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB), are considered the first-line treatment option in patients with severe obesity. However, postoperative complications have increased and the ...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the efficacy and safety of transpapillary papilloplasty in patients with choledocholithiasis. MATERIALS AND METHODS All endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) procedures performed at Hospital Ana Costa, in the city of Santos, Brazil, over the last five years were retrospectively evaluated using the hospital's information database. The success of the proced...

The therapeutic target in Crohn's disease (CD) has been raised to the achievement of mucosal healing. Although effective treatments that target cytokines and other molecules has been widely used for CD, intestinal strictures are still a major cause of surgery. Endoscopic balloon dilation (EBD) is known to be an effective and safe intervention for intestinal strictures in CD. Since frequent inte...

Achalasia is a primary motility disorder with an annual incidence of 0.11 cases/ 100000 children [1]. In the field of natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery (NOTES), the peroral endoscopic myotomy (POEM) [2–3] is the only treatment to be performed routinely in humans. We report the case of a 3-year old female patient with Down syndrome who presented with severe growth retardation and w...

BACKGROUND Medical treatment of esophageal strictures in horses is limited and the use of balloon dilatation is described in few cases. Long-term follow up after balloon dilatation and the use of intralesional corticosteroids has not been evaluated. OBJECTIVES To describe the use of endoscopic guided, esophageal balloon dilatation in horses for cervical and thoracic esophageal strictures and ...

Plummer-Vinson syndrome presents as a classical triad of dysphagia, iron deficiency anemia and upper esophageal web(s). The syndrome usually occurs in adults, and is rare in childhood. We report a case of this syndrome occurring in a 15-year-old boy. He presented with dysphagia and anemia. Radiological examination showed the presence of webs at the cervical esophagus. The boy was treated with e...

BACKGROUND & AIMS Ileo-colonic strictures are common complication of Crohn's disease (CD), and may result in repeated endoscopic or surgical therapy with a risk of further complications, such as perforation or short bowel syndrome. Strictures develop as a consequence of tissue remodelling and fibrosis due to chronic inflammation. This study compares the outcome of CD patients undergoing primari...

scopic ultrasound−assisted rendezvous procedures has been reported previously in patients with obstructive chronic pan− creatitis [1 ± 5]. However, there have been no reports describing the use of this tech− nique in patients with normal pancreatic duct dimensions. We present two patients, a 42−year−old woman with a history of recurrent acute pancreatitis and a tight, inaccessible pan− creatic ...