Endoscopic dilation of esophageal strictures.
OBJECTIVE
To review the experience of endoscopic dilation of esophageal strictures at a tertiary care hospital.


METHODS
Descriptive study.


METHODS
Shifa International Hospital, Islamabad January 1985 to January 2003.


METHODS
Patients presenting with dysphagia who presented at our institution during the past 8 years were reviewed. Their etiology and the number of dilations required for improvement in dysphagia and follow up with any complications were reviewed. All procedures were performed with savary dilators using guide wire without fluoroscopy.


RESULTS
A total of 369 patients were seen during this period and 583 procedures were performed. Two hundred thirty-five (63.7%) patients had peptic stricture, 123 (33.3%) had malignant strictures, 08 (2.2%) had non obstructive dysphagia and 6 (1.6%) had corrosive ingestions. The age ranged from 28-68 years. There were 254 (88.5%) males and 115 (31.2%) females. Sixty-seven (11.5%) procedures were performed as inpatient and 516 (88.5%) procedures were done as outpatient. Two to three attempts at dilatation were required to achieve satisfactory swallowing. There were no serious complication. Follow-up period was 6-8 weeks on an average.


CONCLUSIONS
Most common esophageal stricture found in our practice were peptic strictures. Dilation with savary system was safe and effective and was able to relieve dysphagia in large number of patients. No fluoroscopic guidance was needed.
Department of Medicine Division of Gastroenterology, Shifa International Hospital and Shifa College of Medicine, Islamabad, Pakistan. drnkhokhar@yahoo.com
Nasir
N
Khokhar
Muzaffar Lateef
ML
Gill
Muhammad Mussadiq
MM
Khan
D004106:Dilatation; D004940:Esophageal Stenosis / Q000628:therapy*; D004945:Esophagoscopy; D006801:Humans; D012189:Retrospective Studies