Strictureplasty Overview

Crohn's disease symptoms, such as chronic inflammation, can lead to scarring within your intestines. Over time, this tissue builds up, creating narrow sections in your bowels (strictures). Strictures can lead to painful bowel blockages. Strictureplasty is a procedure to remove scar tissue and improve the passage of digested food within your small intestine. Strictureplasty is not a cure for Crohn's disease, but it can help you feel better.

Offering expertise in every aspect of inflammatory bowel disease, our Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) Program can help you avoid complications from Crohn's disease. With a team of surgeons specializing in complex colorectal surgery, we meticulously carry out procedures to widen narrowed intestines (strictureplasty), preserving as much healthy tissue as possible.

Strictureplasty at Stanford IBD Program

One of the reasons patients choose our Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) Program is our dedication to improving your quality of life. Part of what makes getting strictureplasty at Stanford Health Care special is our highly specialized team of colorectal surgeons:

• Using techniques developed through years of working with inflammatory bowel disease patients, we minimize disruption to healthy tissue to preserve normal bowel functioning.
• Unlike small bowel resection or colon resection surgery, we don't remove any part of your bowel during strictureplasty. Even more, we use the least invasive technique possible, paying careful attention not to damage healthy tissue. This preserves the most natural function of your small intestines.
• Our expertise in performing strictureplasty can also protect your bowels from life-changing complications, such as short bowel syndrome and intestinal failure.