Background: The most frequent causes of dysphagia in children are benign strictures and therefore require special consideration.
Objective: To evaluate safety and efficacy of endoscopic dilation in children with benign esophageal strictures. MATERIAL-METHODS-RESULTS: Twenty four consecutive children of 1.5 to 5.5 years (mean 3.5), with benign esophageal strictures were evaluated in a prospective manner over a 3-year period. The most frequent causes of esophageal stricture were caustic ingestion (Group A) and in Group B were included other benign strictures. Dilation was done on a weekly base using Savary-Gilliard bougies and was considered adequate, if the esophageal lumen could be dilated to 11 mm with complete relief of dysphagia. Of the 24 patients, 16 had corrosive strictures, 6 complications of gastroesophageal reflux and 2 post surgical strictures. Group A required a significantly higher number of session (14.3 +/- 10.84 vs 7.0 +/- 2.94 p: > 0.05), less free-time dysphagia (1.1 +/- 0.39 vs 2.6 +/- 0.95 months p: < 0.01) and a higher number of recurrences (3.12 +/- 1.12 vs 1.25 +/- 0.95 p: < 0.01). Two esophageal perforations occurred during a total of 292 dilation sessions (0.68%). There was one fatality.
Conclusions: Benign esophageal strictures in children can be treated effectively and with acceptable safety by means of endoscopic dilation.