Benign duodenal strictures: treatment by means of fluoroscopically guided balloon dilation

Fluoroscopically guided balloon (15 or 20 mm in diameter) dilation was performed on eight patients with benign duodenal strictures caused by peptic ulcers (n = 6), Crohn's disease (n = 1), and postoperative adhesion (n = 1). The procedure was technically and clinically successful without complications in seven of the eight patients (88%). Duodenal perforation occurred immediately after 20-mm-diameter balloon dilation in one patient who underwent emergency surgery. During the mean follow-up of 30 months (range, 2-103 months), there was recurrence in two of the seven patients (29%) who then underwent surgery. The other five patients (71%) showed good results with no recurrence.