AGA Clinical Practice Update on Incorporating Functional Lumen Imaging Probe Into Esophageal Clinical Practice:...

The purpose of this American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Institute Clinical Practice Update (CPU) is to summarize the available evidence and offer expert best practice advice on the incorporation of the functional lumen imaging probe (FLIP) into clinical practice, specifically its utility in the evaluation of esophageal symptoms, esophageal motor dysfunction, gastroesophageal reflux disease, and eosinophilic esophagitis.

This CPU Expert Review was commissioned and approved by the AGA Institute Governing Board and CPU Committee to provide timely guidance on a topic of high clinical importance to the AGA membership. This CPU Expert Review underwent internal peer review by the CPU Committee and external peer review through the standard procedures of Gastroenterology. These best practice advice statements were developed based on review of the published literature and expert opinion, and approved by the AGA Institute Governing Board. Because formal systematic reviews were not performed, these best practice advice statements do not carry formal ratings of the quality of evidence or strength of the presented considerations. Best Practice Advice Statements BEST PRACTICE ADVICE 1: Clinicians should perform a high-quality upper endoscopy evaluating for esophageal pathology immediately prior to considering FLIP. BEST PRACTICE ADVICE 2: Clinicians should consider performing FLIP if alternate investigations are inconclusive in patients with symptoms of esophageal obstruction (ie, dysphagia, esophageal-type regurgitation, and/or meal-related chest pain), and may consider FLIP as part of index endoscopy for symptomatic patients when the procedure and interpretation expertise are readily available. BEST PRACTICE ADVICE 3: Clinicians may use common sedation options for endoscopy (ie, propofol, fentanyl, and/or midazolam), as these medications have not been demonstrated to have a clinically significant impact on FLIP findings. BEST PRACTICE ADVICE 4: Normal esophagogastric junction opening on FLIP has a high negative predictive value for disorders of esophagogastric junction outflow obstruction on high-resolution manometry. BEST PRACTICE ADVICE 5: If upper endoscopy demonstrates findings strongly supportive of achalasia, clinicians may use FLIP findings to diagnose achalasia. BEST PRACTICE ADVICE 6: If upper endoscopy does not demonstrate findings supportive of achalasia, abnormal esophagogastric junction opening on FLIP should prompt further diagnostic testing. BEST PRACTICE ADVICE 7: Clinicians may consider performing FLIP if the mechanism of persisting dysphagia in treated eosinophilic esophagitis is not apparent on high-quality upper endoscopy or histopathology. BEST PRACTICE ADVICE 8: Clinicians should not use FLIP findings to diagnose gastroesophageal reflux disease or to determine the necessity for antireflux intervention. BEST PRACTICE ADVICE 9: When available, clinicians should consider performing FLIP intraprocedurally during myotomy (per-oral endoscopic myotomy or laparoscopic Heller myotomy) to guide adequacy of LES disruption. BEST PRACTICE ADVICE 10: Clinicians may consider performing FLIP in the evaluation of persisting symptoms of esophageal obstruction (ie, dysphagia, esophageal-type regurgitation, and/or meal-related chest pain) after treatment of achalasia spectrum disorders. BEST PRACTICE ADVICE 11: Clinicians may consider performing FLIP in the evaluation of symptoms of esophageal obstruction after invasive foregut intervention (ie, antireflux or bariatric intervention).