effects of using mitomycin-c in treatment of benign esophageal strictures

background: using bouginage or balloon dilatation is the standard treatment for benign esophageal strictures. aùžbout two-thirds need repeated dilatations. for preventing recurrent strictures, many medications such as mitomycin-c have been used. mitomycin-c is a special antibiotic with anti-neoplastic characteristics, which inhibits fibroblast proliferation, reduces collagen production and decreases scar formation. materials and methods: in this study, 12 patients with benign esophageal stricture during azar 1386 to bahman 1387 in imam khomeini endoscopy department were included.ù esophageal endoscopy was done and mitomycin-c was applied on the place of stricture using a cotton ball. then, response to treatment was categorized in three groups of complete response, partial response and non-response to treatment. results: average number of using mitomycin-c was 4 ± 3 times. mean interval between endoscopies before using mitomycin-c was 3.5 ± 1 weeks and after using this agent was 8.5 ± 4.3 weeks. there were 4 cases of complete response, 5 cases of partial response and 3 patients of non-response. conclusion: conservative treatments in management of benign esophageal strictures are preferred to more invasive treatments. however, it seems using a topical solution of mitomycin-c carries better responses and reduces the rate of recurrent dilatations.