title: Electrocautery therapy for refractory anastomotic strictures of the esophagus.
abstract: 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.
  
  
  METHODS
  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.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Erasmus MC University Medical Centre Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Marjan L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Hordijk
authors.forename: Peter D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Siersema
authors.forename: Hugo W
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Tilanus
authors.forename: Ernst J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Kuipers
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000714:Anastomosis, Surgical; D004106:Dilatation; D004564:Electrocoagulation; D004940:Esophageal Stenosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery*; D004945:Esophagoscopy; D004947:Esophagus / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D012008:Recurrence; D013270:Stomach / Q000601:surgery; D016896:Treatment Outcome