[Current possibilities of diagnostic and surgical endoscopy in cicatricial esophageal stenosis]

Endoscopic methods of examination have been employed in 153 cases of burn and peptic strictures of the esophagus. The experience has shown that the use of small-diameter (including ultrathin) fiber endoscopes provides maximum information of the status of the esophagus along its whole length as well as of the stomach and duodenum, which is of importance in the choice of therapeutic tactics in this category of patients. Eighty one patients with cicatricial stenosis of the esophagus and esophageal anastomoses were subjected to various endoscopic interventions: balloon hydrodilation, bougienage, electrocision, and endoprosthesis . Balloon hydrodilatation was the major technique and in many cases was combined with other modes of therapeutic endoscopy. The authors' experience suggest that endoscopy adds to the available treatments for cicatricial strictures of the esophagus and esophageal anastomoses.