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Colonoscopy found stricture

Hi all, my daughter just had a colonoscopy and she has a stricture where they did her resection 3-1/2 years ago. They took biopsies but doc said it looks like scar tissue. She showed me the pictures and it looks REALLY narrow, she didn’t even want to push the scope through but she was able to get some biopsies from just past the stricture. She’s going to call me next week with the results and says we can talk then about options. She said some of the options would be surgery to open it up or having a balloon inflated to widen the area. Anyone have experience with either of these?
 
My daughter has a stricture too; hers is due to "residual wall thickening" created when the most damaged part of her small intestine healed and scarred over. It's only a few millimeters in length, but it has led to a couple of partial obstructions, along with one full obstruction that required a hospital stay.

When she had the full obstruction, we talked to her GI about options, including resection and a balloon dilation, but we decided to handle it with a careful diet for now. The foods that have caused problems for her are corn and fresh pineapple, so we've cut those out of her diet completely, along with popcorn and whole nuts and seeds. We also peel most fresh fruits and vegetables. We are hoping to avoid resection for now, since we've heard that the areas of reattachment can scar and cause further strictures (as maybe happened in your daughter's case). And it sounds like balloon dilations may need to be repeated, and there is always the chance of perforation during the procedure.

Of course, if your daughter's stricture is really narrow and/or long, diet restrictions may not be enough to avoid blockages, so you may have to do something. It's likely that she's had this stricture for a while though--has it caused any problems so far? When my daughter has had partial obstructions, her symptoms were nausea, lack of appetite, burping, abdominal pain, and inability to poop or pass gas. When she had the complete blockage, she had the same symptoms, but also vomited every 10 or 15 minutes most of the night. After a few hours, the vomit was just green bile, and that's when we took her in to the ER.

Keep us updated after you hear from the doctor.
 
Thanks for the info! She has had some mild nausea on and off for the last week or so and when she goes to the bathroom it has been “loose” and “urgent”. Doc today didn’t seem like it was an emergency so I guess we’ll wait until biopsies are back and see what the next steps are. The more I look at the report, the more narrow it looks! It’s almost completely closed so I’m trying to remain calm and trust that if it was truly an emergency they wouldn’t have let us leave the hospital today.

I’m just glad everything else looks good, it means the Remicade is doing its job!
 
That's great that everything else looks good. And yes, I'm sure that your doctor wouldn't let you go today if she thought there was any immediate risk. I do wonder if your doctor will want to do an MRE next to get a better look at things. Anyway, I would just have your daughter be careful about what she eats until you get a chance to talk to the doctor next week.
 

Maya142

Moderator
Staff member
I'm so glad everything else looked good. You would have been admitted, if they thought it was an emergency. I would definitely consider a low residue diet until you decide what next steps are. We were told that balloon dilations work for a while, but they tend to need to be repeated and there is a risk of perforation. The other option is a resection or a strictureplasty.
 
Hi there, I have had 3 resections, just had my last one to months ago. The stricture was very narrow and was also inflamed. The last two scopes could not be completed as there is no way to get through. I had a CT scan which showed the narrowing. My GI put in an emergency request to have a resection. I am not young and I have been on all meds. Last one was Stelara which didn’t do its job. As I was told strictures cannot be recover itself. I had this stricture way too long. It is a last resort, but I have seen on my past I needed the resection. I am now currently trying Entyvio, my second infusion is this Thursday. Fingers crossed this is my drug to help put me in remission. Full bowel obstructions are extremely painful and risks serious complications. I hope your daughter has a good GI to help her through her journey. Hang in there!
 

Kyle.h

Kyle
Location
Vancouver
Hi all, my daughter just had a colonoscopy and she has a stricture where they did her resection 3-1/2 years ago. They took biopsies but doc said it looks like scar tissue. She showed me the pictures and it looks REALLY narrow, she didn’t even want to push the scope through but she was able to get some biopsies from just past the stricture. She’s going to call me next week with the results and says we can talk then about options. She said some of the options would be surgery to open it up or having a balloon inflated to widen the area. Anyone have experience with either of these?
Hello :)

I hope your daughter is getting some relief and you have a plan following the results of the biopsies. Could you please keep us updated on how things progress?

Thanks, Kyle
 
DD is doing ok and we’re most likely going to try the balloon dilation first. Just waiting to hear if they want her to have an MRE first to get a better look at the length of the structure, etc. Fingers crossed!
 
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