Non-surgical management of achalasia

Pneumatic dilatation of the cardia is an effective procedure to treat patients suffering from achalasia. Eighty percent of these patients can be expected to have excellent or good results for 6 years after the first dilatation. A repeat dilatation should be performed as soon as the patient has recurrent symptoms, usually every 2 years. Calcium channel blockers (nifedipine and verapamil) or nitrates (isosorbide dinitrate) decrease LES pressure but do little to the clinical symptomatology of patients with achalasia; however such drug therapy may be tried as an adjunct in patients who remain symptomatic after pneumatic dilatations or myotomy. Pneumatic dilatation and surgical myotomy both reduce LES pressure; with pneumatic dilatation, enough residual LES pressure is retained to prevent gastroesophageal reflux. Indeed, reflux esophagitis seems to occur more often after surgery than after forceful dilatations. We think that pneumatic dilatation should be performed as the primary therapy and surgery reserved for the failures of this procedure.