Long‐term outcomes after therapeutic endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography using balloon‐assisted enteroscopy for anastomotic stenosis of choledochojejunostomy/pancreaticojejunostomy

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Data on long-term outcomes after therapeutic endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) using balloon-assisted enteroscopy (BAE) for choledochojejunal anastomotic stenosis (CJS) or pancreaticojejunal anastomotic stenosis (PJS) remain limited. We retrospectively assessed the long-term results of patients who achieved clinical success using BAE for CJS and PJS. METHODS: Patients who achieved technical and clinical success for CJS or PJS by BAE-ERCP and were followed up for more than 6 months after the initial BAE-ERCP therapy were retrospectively identified at 11 Japanese institutions. The primary end-point was CJS or PJS recurrence rates. The secondary end-points were initial therapy details, initial therapy complications, and CJS or PJS recurrence treatment details. We also evaluated restenosis-associated factors. RESULTS: From September 2008 to December 2015, 67 patients (CJS, 61; PJS, six) were included. The overall CJS and PJS recurrence rates were 34.4% and 33.3%, respectively. The 1-year CJS recurrence rate was 18.5% (95% confidence interval, 10.7-31.0). Of all the patients, 88.1% underwent balloon dilation at the anastomotic stenosis site; stent placement was performed in 15 of 67 patients (22.4%). The complication rate was 8.2% in CJS and 0% in PJS. In patients who underwent balloon dilation, "remaining waist" was significantly associated with CJS recurrence after anastomotic balloon dilation (P = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The long-term outcomes of BAE-ERCP were comparable with those of percutaneous transhepatic treatment or surgical re-anastomosis.