Clinical value of preventive balloon dilatation for esophageal stricture

Abstract

Endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR) and endo-scopic submucosal dissection (ESD) were developed for the treatment of benign lesions and early superfcial esophageal cancers in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. However, esopha-geal strictures frequently develop in patients who undergo EMR/ESD. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the clinical value of preventive balloon dilatation (BD) for esophageal diseases following endoscopic therapy. A total of 30 patients who had received EMR or ESD were enrolled in the study. Preventive BD was carried out for 12 cases within 1 week following EMR/ESD. The remaining 18 cases were not subjected to preventive BD and were used as an historic control. The results revealed that no complications, including esopha-geal stenosis and dysphagia, were observed in the patients who received preventive BD. In the control group, seven cases experienced dysphagia, of which two were released without clinical treatment and the other fve were released following two or three BD procedures. The results indicate that preventive BD is an effective treatment for patients with esophageal diseases following EMR and should be considered at an early stage when the mucosal injury exceeds two-thirds of the esophageal lumen.