The Reflux Symptoms Before and After Peroral Endoscopic Myotomy of Chinese Patients With Achalasia.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Achalasia is a rare disease, but the incidence is increasing recently. Peroral esophageal myotomy (POEM) is an effective treatment. Regurgitation is a common symptom before and after POEM. Our aim is to investigate the factors related to preoperative and postoperative reflux symptoms.

METHODS

Our study was retrospective. The achalasia patients diagnosed by high-resolution manometry and gastroscopy were divided into reflux group and non-reflux group before and after POEM, respectively. General information, symptoms, POEM information, and manometric results were compared.

RESULTS

(1) Ninety-six of 130 patients had reflux symptoms before POEM. The lower esophageal sphincter pressure (LESP) in the reflux group was significantly higher than the non-reflux group ( = 0.023), while integrated relaxation pressure (IRP) was similar. The reflux group had longer esophagus than the non-reflux group ( = 0.006). Reflux symptoms were not related to subtypes of achalasia. (2) Twenty-five of 84 patients had reflux symptoms after POEM. Postoperative Eckardt scores, LESP, and 4-second IRP (4sIRP) were significantly lower than the preoperative values ( < 0.001). The preoperative values and POEM information were similar between the postoperative 2 groups and there was no significant difference in the presence of preoperative reflux symptoms between 2 groups. The postoperative LESP and 4sIRP were similar between the 2 groups, however, the postoperative UESP was significantly higher in the reflux group than the non-reflux group ( = 0.042). The non-reflux group had more declines in Eckardt scores and LESP than the reflux group.

CONCLUSION

s The reflux symptoms of achalasia patients without treatment were mainly due to food retention. The postoperative reflux symptoms were not the sign of the excessive relaxation of lower esophageal sphincter.