This is a Phase II, single-center (Cleveland Clinic), two-arm, randomized, parallel-group superiority trial. The two arms will compare IOUS-guided margin selection against standard macroscopic margin selection in patients undergoing ileocolic resection for terminal ileal Crohn's disease. Patients and outcome assessors (pathologists, endoscopists) will be blinded to the intervention arm, while surgeons, by the nature of the intervention, cannot be blinded. Randomization will be computer-generated with concealed allocation using permuted blocks to ensure balanced group sizes.
Adults aged ≥18 years.
Diagnosis of terminal ileal Crohn's disease with inflammatory or fibrostenotic phenotype localized to terminal ileum/ileocecal region and assessed on either preoperative imaging or during surgical exploration at the time of surgery.
Scheduled to undergo primary ileocolic resection.
Penetrating disease with abscess or complex fistula requiring complex resection.
Prior ileocolic resection.
Diagnosis of Crohn's colitis.
Pregnancy or inability to provide informed consent.
Parallel
IOUS-guided margin selection
DeviceIntra-operative ultrasound (IOUS)-guided proximal resection margin selection during ileocolic resection for terminal ileal Crohn's disease
feasibility in ultrasound assessment of resection margin
Feasibility, defined as the proportion of cases in which IOUS is successfully performed with a designated proximal margin (Margin B) in the IOUS arm, will be reported as a percentage with 95% confidence intervals. Feasibility will be declared if ≥ 75% of randomized patients in the IOUS arm achieve successful designation of Margin B. Failure will be defined as such: Technical inability to measure bowel wall thickness with ultrasound or to stratify the bowel wall stratification; failure to identify an appropriate margin within 30min; resection exceeding the additional length by 20cm in more than 20% of the cases.
Comparison of histologic inflammation within the IOUS arm at 6 to 12 months
Comparison of histologic inflammation within the IOUS arm (Margin A versus Margin B versus distal margin) will be performed using McNemar's test or Wilcoxon signed-rank test for paired data, as appropriate. Between-arm comparison of histologic findings (IOUS arm versus standard arm) will be performed using Chi-square test, Fisher's exact test, or Wilcoxon rank-sum test for unpaired comparisons.
Click on the lead sponsor to view all of their trials.
