Achalasia Cardia is a rare neurodegenerative disorder of esophagus resulting in defective peristalsis and impaired relaxation of lower esophageal sphincter. The exact etiopathogenesis of achalasia is not known. Achalasia is associated with significant morbidity and impaired quality of life. The standard of care in patients with achalasia has been pneumatic balloon dilatation and laparoscopic he...

OBJECTIVE Delayed gastric emptying after esophageal operations occurs in up to 50% of patients. A good quality of life, in long-term survivors after esophagectomy, may depend on both dietary adaptation and the improvement of intrathoracic gastric motility itself. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of pyloric balloon dilatation on the sustained delay of gastric emptying af...

TO THE EDITOR: I read with great interest the paper entitled “Achalasia cardia subtyping by high-resolution manometry predicts the therapeutic outcome of pneumatic balloon dilatation” by Pratap et al, which was published in January 2011 issue of Journal of Neurogastroenterology and Motility. Achalasia is the best known primary esophageal motility disorder characterized by absent peristalsis of ...

The feasibility of using balloon dilatation to relieve stenosis caused by dysplasia of the pulmonary valve was assessed in seven patients (five female, mean age two years) with angiographically confirmed dysplasia who were identified among 38 patients with pulmonary valve stenosis selected for balloon dilatation over a two year period. The clinical features in three patients were consistent wit...

Ureteral stricture is not a common urologic condition. Balloon dilatation represents one of the least invasive methods for treatment of ureteral strictures. We retrospectively analysed 24 patients with ureteral strictures treated with retrograde balloon dilatation in our department. The etiology of stricture was iatrogenic in 11 (45.8%) patients, post-TBC in one (4.2%), congenital in one (4.2%)...

BACKGROUND/AIMS The occurrence of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is known to be associated with lower post-treatment lower esoph-ageal sphincter pressure in patients with achalasia. This study aimed to elucidate whether GERD after pneumatic balloon dilata-tion (PD) has a prognostic role and to investigate how the clinical course of GERD is. METHODS A total of 79 consecutive patients w...

BACKGROUND/AIMS High-resolution manometry (HRM) with pressure topography is used to subtype achalasia cardia, which has therapeutic implications. The aim of this study was to compare the clinical characteristics, manometric variables and treatment outcomes among the achalasia subtypes based on the HRM findings. METHODS The patients who underwent HRM at the Asian Institute of Gastroenterology,...

Achalasia cardia is a motility disorder of the esophagus characterized by failure of relaxation of the lower esophageal sphincter. Nitrates and calcium channel blockers, pneumatic dilatation, botulinum toxin injection and surgical myotomy have been described in literature as possible management options. We present a patient who presented with achalasia and was co-incidentally diagnosed to have ...

Robot-assisted minimally invasive surgery (MIS) offers improved range of motion over standard laparoscopic techniques, but is characterized by a total loss of haptic feedback, requiring surgeons to rely solely on visual cues. Pneumatic tactile displays have many advantages, including low mass, low cost, compact size, and adaptability. A pneumatic haptic feedback actuator array has been develope...

INTRODUCTION Balloon dilatation is a method of choice for treatment of laryngeal stenosis in children. The aim of procedure in apneic pause is to avoid new insertion of tracheostomy cannula. PATIENTS AND METHODS The authors performed balloon dilatation of subglottic laryngeal strictures (SGS) in 5 children (3 girls and 2 boys) without tracheotomy. Two of them with traumatic and inflammatory S...