Use of double-balloon endoscopy and an endoscopic scoring system to assess endoscopic remission in isolated small bowel Crohn's disease after treatment with infliximab.

Background: It is unclear how clinical and endoscopic factors affect the attainment of endoscopic remission (ER) in patients with small bowel Crohn's disease (SB-CD) who are infliximab-naïve. Objectives: We aimed to identify the effect of different factors on attaining ER using double-balloon endoscopy (DBE) evaluation. Design: A single-center retrospective observational study was conducted from 1 January 2018 to 30 November 2022. Among 262 patients who were screened for isolated SB-CD by baseline DBE, 108 patients were assessed for effectiveness during maintenance infliximab therapy by a second DBE evaluation. Methods: DBE findings before and after infliximab therapy were compared. ER was defined as a simple endoscopic score for CD (SES-CD) below 3, and segmental ER as SES-CD activity of 0. Multivariate regression with calculations of odds ratios (OR) was used to determine the impact of different factors on attaining ER. Results: In all, 41 patients (38.0%) achieved ER. An elevated C-reactive protein at week 6 was independently associated with a decreased probability of ER [OR: 0.86, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.75-0.98, Conclusion: For infliximab-naïve patients with SB-CD, the overall severity of the endoscopic score was unrelated to attainment of ER. Patients were less likely to attain segmental ER if they had greater endoscopic inflammation or larger ulcers in the terminal ileum.