Pharyngeal pouch: link with reflux and oesophageal dysmotility

Twenty patients aged 56-92 years who underwent surgical correction of pharyngeal pouches at Queen Alexandra Hospital, Portsmouth were asked to fill in a detailed questionnaire. They were then interviewed and barium swallow studies performed from 3 months to 4 years post-operatively. Nineteen patients in the sample were found to have reflux and 20 had dysmotility. These findings suggest that pharyngeal pouches are not a purely localized inco-ordination of the cricopharyngeal sphincter but are associated with a generalized oesophageal muscle dysfunction.