Pneumatic balloon dilation for esophageal achalasia

Pneumatic balloon dilation remains the medical treatment of choice for patients with achalasia. It is superior to other medical therapies including intrasphincteric botulinum toxin injection. The overall efficacy rate for long-term excellent or good result is 80 to 85%. It is extremely important that the endoscopist be quite experienced in the technique of pneumatic dilation and develop a standard protocol to minimize the complications. The technique of graded balloon dilation starting with 3.0-cm Rigiflex balloon as the initial dilator and progressing to 3.5-cm and 4.0-cm balloon in absence of response to previous balloon size offers the safest approach. Patients not responding to three serial dilations should be offered surgery, although some patients may prefer repeat dilations to surgery. The overall complication rate for Rigiflex dilation is about 3% and for Witzel dilation is about 6%. Some patients will develop GER when measured by 24-hour esophageal pH monitoring, but most patients remain asymptomatic.