Cricopharyngeal myotomy: indications and technique

Available diagnostic tests evaluating cricopharyngeal dysmotility are expensive, uncomfortable, and unreliable for predicting the results of cricopharyngeal myotomy. Cricopharyngeal myotomy should be performed as a diagnostic test when a patient has "block" dysphagia (in which the food bolus stops rather than the swallow's being painful) localized to the cricoid level, and when no cancer is seen on esophagram. An effective surgical technique relies on the muscular distention provided by the inflated balloon cuff of a large endotracheal tube, and requires cutting the muscle fibers of the upper esophagus, the cricopharyngeus, and the hypopharynx in the posterior midline from a point 1 cm below the cricoid cartilage to the level of the thyrohyoid membrane. The cricopharyngeal limits are indistinct until the muscle fibers have been cut. Bougies, esophagoscopes, and cuffless endotracheal tubes insufficiently distend these muscle fibers. A "peanut" sponge in a Kelly clamp is used to identify and separate the last muscle fibers from the mucosa so they can be divided. These techniques minimize the risks of esophageal perforation and incomplete muscular transection. Our experience performing 54 cricopharyngeal myotomies is reported.