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Bidirectional esophageal dilatation in pharyngoesophageal stenosis postradiotherapy
Author(s) -
Gavriel Haim,
Duong Cuong,
Spillane John,
Sizeland Andrew
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
head and neck
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.012
H-Index - 127
eISSN - 1097-0347
pISSN - 1043-3074
DOI - 10.1002/hed.22993
Subject(s) - medicine , fluoroscopy , transillumination , esophagus , swallowing , stenosis , dysphagia , radiology , gastrostomy , head and neck , percutaneous , surgery , esophageal stricture , pathology
Severely stenosed radiation‐induced benign strictures around the level of cricopharyngeus post–radical chemoradiation for head and neck or upper esophageal cancers pose significant management problems. We report our technique of bidirectional assessment and dilatation of pharyngoesophageal strictures in patients with an in situ percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) tube. The upper gastrointestinal surgeon approached the area of stenosis in a retrograde manner through the PEG tube to guide the otolaryngeal surgeon who performed anterograde dilatation via a rigid laryngoscope. Between 2005 and 2009, bidirectional esophageal dilatation was performed on 5 patients at our institution. Video fluoroscopy confirmed improved patency of stenosed esophagus in all cases and good improvement in swallowing ability in 4 patients. The ability to accurately assess pharyngoesophageal strictures using bidirectional visualization and transillumination is the key modification of our technique. We suggest using bidirectional esophageal dilatation on difficult cases with severe pharyngoesophageal stenoses although extreme care is required. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck, 2013