[Treatment of primary motility disorders of the esophagus]

All treatment modalities of achalasia aim at reducing the resistance at the cardia sufficiently to allow easy aboral flow, but insufficiently to favour gastroesophageal reflux. This can be achieved either by powerful dilatation or by cardiomyotomy. Early and late results, morbidity and mortality rates and late complications of these different treatment modalities are discussed. The personal experience of the authors with progressive pneumatic dilatations in a series of 700 patients is described.