The proportion of obese individuals continues to increase worldwide. Bariatric surgery remains the only evidence-based treatment strategy to produce marked weight loss. Roux-en-Y gastric bypass is an effective and common bariatric surgical procedure offered to obese patients. However, a small percentage of individuals can develop narrowing or stricture formation of the gastrojejunal anastomosis...

Chronic pancreatitis is a progressive inflammatory disease that destroys pancreatic parenchyma and alters ductal stricture, leading to ductal destruction and abdominal pain. Pancreatic duct stones (PDSs) are a common complication of chronic pancreatitis that requires treatment to relieve abdominal pain and improve pancreas function. Endoscopic therapy, extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESW...

background and purpose: successful treatment of helicobacter pylori infection causes not only eradication of pathogen, but also prevents the associated diseases such as peptic ulcer, gastric carcinoma and lymphoma. the aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of 7 days triple therapy as a lowest drug resistance, shortest duration and fewer numbers of drugs in children. materials and metho...

Post-endoscopic sphincterotomy bleeding is a common complication of biliary sphincterotomy, and the incidence varies from 1% to 48%. It can be challenging to localize the bleeder or to administer various interventions through a side-viewing endoscope. This study aimed to evaluate the risk factors of post-endoscopic sphincterotomy bleeding and the outcome of endoscopic intervention therapies. We...

BACKGROUND The majority of patients with pancreatic cancer are not candidates for surgical resection. Palliative therapy remains the cornerstone of management of this population. METHODS We reviewed recent clinical and experimental studies on endoscopic palliative therapy of inoperable pancreatic cancer. RESULTS Endoscopic placement of a biliary stent is the preferred mode of palliation of ...

AIM To investigate the safety and effectiveness of endoscopic therapy with a paclitaxel-eluting balloon (PEB) for biliary anastomotic stricture (AS) after liver transplantation (LT). METHODS This prospective pilot study enrolled 13 consecutive eligible patients treated for symptomatic AS after LT at the University Hospital of Münster between January 2011 and March 2014. The patients were trea...

Objective. To evaluate the efficacy of infliximab (IFX) monotherapy versus infliximab-azathioprine sequential treatment in Crohn's disease (CD) patients. Methods. Patients newly diagnosed with CD using IFX as induction therapy were enrolled. After 6 times of IFX infusions, they were divided into IFX monotherapy group and IFX-AZA sequential therapy group. Clinical remission rates were assessed a...