Esophageal strictures following endoscopic variceal sclerotherapy: clinical course and response to dilation therapy.

The authors evaluated the clinical course and management of 10 sclerotherapy patients with obliterated varices and symptomatic esophageal strictures. Strictures developed after 29 injections of 51 ml of sodium tetradecyl sulfate on an average of three sessions. Although the severity of dysphagia was variable, all patients were successfully managed with bougienage. To evaluate risk factors related to stricture formation a comparison was made with 14 nonstricture patients with obliterated varices. Multiple parameters of sclerotherapy were evaluated including total volume of sclerosant, number of injections, number of EVS sessions, volume of sclerosant, number of injections per session, number of esophageal ulcerations, and frequency of EVS treatments. No aspects of therapy clearly predicted the development of esophageal stricture.