EFFICACY OF ENDOSCOPIC BALLOON DILATION IN IRANIAN PEDIATRIC PATIENTS WITH ESOPHAGEAL STRICTURE

[Clinical analysis of endoscopic esophageal dilation for the treatment of corrosive esophageal strictures in children]

OBJECTIVES

To investigate the clinical application of endoscopic esophageal dilation in the treatment of corrosive esophageal strictures in children.

METHODS

A retrospective analysis was performed on the clinical data of 15 children with corrosive esophageal strictures who underwent endoscopic esophageal dilation in Children's Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine. The clinical features, treatment modality of endoscopic esophageal dilation, number of dilations, complications, and prognosis were reviewed.

RESULTS

A total of 96 esophageal dilations were performed in the 15 children with corrosive esophageal strictures, with a median of 6 dilations per child. Among them, 9 children (60%) underwent 6 or more dilations. The children with a stricture length of >3 cm had a significantly higher number of dilations than those with a stricture length of ≤3 cm (P<0.05). The children with strictures in a single segment had a significantly better treatment outcome than those with strictures in multiple segments (P=0.005). No complication was observed during all sessions of dilation. The overall effective rate (including significant improvement and improvement) of endoscopic esophageal dilation treatment was 87%, with 2 cases of failure.

CONCLUSIONS

Endoscopic esophageal dilation is an effective and relatively safe treatment method for corrosive esophageal strictures in children, and children with strictures in a single segment tend to have a better treatment outcome than those with strictures in multiple segments.

Electrocautery Incisional Therapy for Refractory Anastomotic Stricture in a Child: Report from Ahvaz, Iran

Endoscopic electrocautery incisional therapy (EIT) is one of the methods for the treatment of refractory esophageal stricture among adult cases. There are few reports among children. Herein we report the successful use of EIT for a 13-year-old boy with an anastomotic stricture who was visited in our hospital due to poor feeding and inability to feed. The boy had undergone gastric resection due to gastric necrosis. This is the first report of electrocautery surgery using a needle knife for the treatment of benign esophageal stricture in our country.