Esophageal dilation with polyvinyl bougies, using a marked guidewire without the aid of fluoroscopy: an update.

One hundred thirty-eight patients with esophageal stricture underwent polyvinyl bougie dilations whereby American Endoscopy dilators were passed over a marked guidewire that had been placed endoscopically. Fluoroscopy was not utilized during the dilations. The dilations were performed only after the guidewire was properly placed, with 60-cm markings at the incisors, which ensured that the tip of the guidewire was in the antrum. One hundred fourteen patients had benign strictures and 24 had malignant strictures. There were 197 sessions of dilations for a total of 748 individual dilations. In 97 of 138 patients, the guidewire was placed in the antrum under direct vision. The remaining 41 patients had significant esophageal stenosis which prevented passage of the endoscope into the stomach; therefore, the guidewire was placed by advancing it blindly through the stenosis. There were no procedure-related complications. During this period, eight patients were dilated without complications, using fluoroscopic placement of guidewire because endoscopic placement of the guidewire was not considered safe. We conclude that esophageal strictures can be safely dilated in most patients by means of the American Endoscopy dilator system and the marked guidewire without the aid of fluoroscopy.