Longitudinal compression therapy for small bowel stricture crohn’s disease: durable resolution in swine model

Small bowel stricture is common in Crohn’s disease (CD), both de novo and after resection. With all standard treatments having high recurrence rates, CD patients would benefit greatly from a novel and highly durable non-surgical intervention. We report the first long-term study of longitudinal compression therapy (LCT) for the treatment of anastomotic strictures in an animal CD stricture model. LCT entails progressive endoluminal compression of stricture tissue between two flange-like device components. The goal is to gradually bring about necrosis of fibrotic tissue interposed between the two flanges while allowing remodeling with minimal iatrogenic inflammation around the periphery.