Intestinal Ultrasound–Assisted Endoscopic Management of Acute Bowel Obstruction in a Patient With Crohn's Disease

Endoscopic balloon dilation is an established option for the management of fibrostenosing Crohn's disease (CD). Transmural assessment by cross-sectional imaging in addition to endoscopy is imperative for the management of patients with stenoses. Intestinal ultrasound (IUS) is a noninvasive, relatively inexpensive, point-of-care disease monitoring tool being incorporated into daily clinical practice in inflammatory bowel disease. With the rise in IUS utilization in the management of CD, there are opportunities to understand the pathophysiology of this condition and its treatment in new ways. We describe the first successful IUS-guided endoscopic balloon dilation in a patient with fibrostenotic CD who presented with bowel obstruction.