Electrocautery therapy for refractory anastomotic strictures of the esophagus

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. Observations: 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 eras 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.