Flouroscopy-guided balloon dilatation of benign esophageal strictures : a single center study

Abstract EN

Objective : to review the efficacy and safety of balloon dilatation among children with benign esophageal strictures. Methods: This is a retrospective review of 209 balloon dilation procedures performed under fluoroscopy guidance on 66 patients (38 male and 28 female) with benign esophageal strictures over 27 months (January 2009 to March 2011).

The study was conducted at King Hussein Medical Centre.

Patients had a mean age of 26 months and a median of 3.2 (1-18) dilatations.

Immediate technical success was defined as the ability to dilate the stricture without complications.

Long term success was defined as the disappearance of presenting symptoms for a minimum of 12 months post procedure.

All patients had the procedure performed under general anesthesia with pre and post procedure esophagogram.

Simple descriptive statistics (frequency, mean and percentage) were used to describe the study variables. Results : immediate technical success was noted in 208 procedures (99.5 %).

Esophageal perforation was encountered in one patient at the fifth dilatation session (type1 perforation).

Long term success was achieved in 44 %, 42 % and 14 % of cases following a single, two to five and more than five interventions consecutively. Conclusion : fluoroscopy-guided balloon dilatation procedure is a simple, safe and efficacious modality for treatment for benign esophageal strictures in children, with low rate of complications.