BACKGROUND: Anastomotic esophageal stenoses after esophageal resection are common and sometimes are refractory to Savary bougie dilation. The efficacy of electrocautery needle-knife treatment in these patients is described. METHODS: Twenty patients with a refractory anastomotic stricture of the esophagus were treated with electrocautery and were followed for 12 months. All patients had recurrence of dysphagia despite repeated bougienage. OBSERVATIONS: All 12 patients with a stricture shorter than 1 cm remained without dysphagia after a single treatment. In all 8 patients with a long-segment stenosis of 1.5 to 5 cm, dysphagia recurred, and a mean of 3 treatments were necessary. The interval between electrocautery treatments was significantly longer compared with bougienage. There were no complications. The body weight of all patients increased. CONCLUSIONS: Electrocautery seems to be a good single-treatment modality for refractory short-segment anastomotic strictures, whereas longer-segment stenoses appear to require repeated treatment sessions before similar results are obtained.
BACKGROUND:Anastomotic esophageal stenoses after esophageal resection are common and sometimes are refractory to Savary bougie dilation. The efficacy of electrocautery needle-knife treatment in these patients is described. METHODS: Twenty patients with a refractory anastomotic stricture of the esophagus were treated with electrocautery and were followed for 12 months. All patients had recurrence of dysphagia despite repeated bougienage. OBSERVATIONS: All 12 patients with a stricture shorter than 1 cm remained without dysphagia after a single treatment. In all 8 patients with a long-segment stenosis of 1.5 to 5 cm, dysphagia recurred, and a mean of 3 treatments were necessary. The interval between electrocautery treatments was significantly longer compared with bougienage. There were no complications. The body weight of all patients increased. CONCLUSIONS: Electrocautery seems to be a good single-treatment modality for refractory short-segment anastomotic strictures, whereas longer-segment stenoses appear to require repeated treatment sessions before similar results are obtained.
Authors: Ivana Dzeletovic; David E Fleischer; Michael D Crowell; Rahul Pannala; Lucinda A Harris; Francisco C Ramirez; George E Burdick; Lauri A Rentz; Robert V Spratley; Susan D Helling; Jeffrey A Alexander Journal: Dig Dis Sci Date: 2013-08-08 Impact factor: 3.199