Balloon-assisted endoscopic stricturotomy for small bowel fibrostenotic strictures: A comparison of Crohn’s disease-related and non-Crohn’s disease strictures

Table 1 Baseline characteristics of patients undergoing endoscopic stricturotomy

Variable	Total (n = 57)	CD group (n = 32)	Non-CD group (n = 25)	Statistic	P value
Age at onset (year)	33.0 (26.0-48.0)	28.0 (23.0-36.0)	45.0 (32.0-55.0)	Z = -2.86	0.004
Stricture diameter (mm)	4 (3-5)	4 (3-5)	4 (3-4)	Z = -0.73	0.467
Sex				χ2 = 0.26	0.607
Male	39 (68.4)	21 (65.6)	18 (72.0)
Female	18 (31.6)	11 (34.4)	7 (28.0)
Prior abdominal surgery				χ2 = 4.40	0.036
No	36 (63.2)	24 (75.0)	12 (48.0)
Yes	21 (36.8)	8 (25.0)	13 (52.0)
Stricture location				-	0.772
Ileum	40 (70.2)	22 (68.8)	18 (72.0)
Jejunum	10 (17.6)	5 (15.6)	5 (20.0)
Ileum + jejunum	7 (12.3)	5 (15.6)	2 (8.0)
Severe stenosis				-	1.000
No	2 (3.5)	1 (3.1)	1 (4.0)
Yes	55 (96.5)	31 (96.9)	24 (96.0)
Stricture length (cm)				χ2 = 0.07	0.799
≤ 2	42 (73.7)	18 (72.0)	24 (75.0)
> 2	15 (26.3)	7 (28.0)	8 (25.0)
Prior biologic therapy
No	46 (80.7)	21 (65.6)	25 (100.0)	χ2 = 8.56	0.003
Yes	11 (19.3)	11 (34.4)	0 (0.0)

The data are presented as median (interquartile range) or n (%). Group comparisons were performed using Student’s t test, Mann-Whitney U test, χ² test, or Fisher’s exact test, as appropriate. A dash (-) in the statistics column indicates that Fisher’s exact test was used. Age at onset refers to the age at onset of stricture-related symptoms. Prior biologic therapy was applicable only to patients with Crohn’s disease and was therefore not considered a candidate variable for multivariable regression. CD: Crohn’s disease.

Table 2 Univariable Cox proportional hazards regression for reintervention

Variable	Univariable analysis
	HR (95%CI)	P value
Etiology
CD (reference)	1.00
Non-CD	0.37 (0.15-0.94)	0.036
Severe stenosis
No (reference)	1.00
Yes	1.35 (0.18-10.02)	0.772
Stricture length (cm)
≤ 2 (reference)	1.00
> 2	0.67 (0.25-1.80)	0.430
Incision pattern
Radial (reference)	1.00
Longitudinal	0.43 (0.18-1.05)	0.065
Age at onset	0.98 (0.95-1.01)	0.168
NLR	1.63 (1.14-2.32)	0.007
PLR	1.00 (1.00-1.01)	0.458
CLR	1.03 (1.01-1.05)	0.019
ESR	0.96 (0.76-1.20)	0.721

Cox proportional hazards model. HRs reflect the risk associated with a 1-unit increase. A two-sided P value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Age at onset refers to the age at onset of stricture-related symptoms. CD: Crohn’s disease; NLR: Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio; PLR: Platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio; CLR: C-reactive protein-to-lymphocyte ratio; ESR: Erythrocyte sedimentation rate.

Table 3 Multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression for reintervention

Variable	Multivariable analysis
	HR (95%CI)	P value
Etiology
CD (reference)	1.00
Non-CD	0.29 (0.10-0.84)	0.023
Incision pattern
Radial (reference)	1.00
Longitudinal	0.73 (0.28-1.79)	0.463
NLR	1.92 (1.28-2.88)	0.002

A parsimonious multivariable Cox proportional hazards model was constructed based on clinical relevance and univariable screening. Composite inflammatory indices were not simultaneously included due to potential collinearity. The proportional hazards assumption was assessed graphically. CD: Crohn’s disease; NLR: Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio.