@article{Ratchik_Babii_Prolom_Shevchenko_2018, title={Diagnostics and Minimally Invasive Surgery for Achalasia Cardia}, volume={25}, url={https://ifnmujournal.com/gmj/article/view/1003}, DOI={10.21802/gmj.2018.4.13}, abstractNote={<p><strong>The objective</strong> of the research was to assess the effectiveness of balloon pneumatic dilation and laparoscopic Heller myotomy in treatment of patients with achalasia cardia.</p> <p><strong>Materials and methods.</strong> Twenty-one patients with achalasia cardia were examined and treated using pneumatic balloon dilation and laparoscopic Heller myotomy in the Department of Surgery from January 2016 to April 2018. There were 8 (38.1%) men and 13 (61.9%) women at the age of 28 to 75 years (the average age was (51.47 ± 3.63) years) and disease duration of 1 month to 8 years (the average disease duration was (3.05 ± 0.49) years).</p> <p><strong>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Results and discussion</strong><strong>. </strong>With the help of radiological methods of examination, all the patients were divided into 4 groups according to the esophageal diameter: Group I included 5 (23.8%) patients with the esophagus up to 4-5 cm in diameter; Group II comprised 6 (28.6%) patients with the esophagus up to 4-6 cm in diameter; Group III included 5 (23.8%) patients with the esophagus up to 6-8 cm in diameter; Group IV consisted of 5 (23.8%) patients with the esophagus of more than 8 cm in diameter and an S-shaped configuration. A significant decrease in the diameter of the esophagus according to fluoroscopy (p&lt;0.05) alongside with a decrease in the lower esophageal sphincter pressure according to manometry are indicative in assessing the effectiveness of achalasia cardia treatment after minimally invasive surgery. There were no complications when performing pneumatic balloon dilation and laparoscopic Heller myotomy.</p> <p><strong>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Conclusions. </strong>In 7 (33.3%) patients, recurrences of achalasia cardia after balloon pneumatic dilation occurred within 2 - 10 months: in 4.7% of patients in Group I and 9.5% of patients in Group II, Group III, and Group IV. In recurrent achalasia cardia, repeated dilation was ineffective. There was performed laparoscopic Heller myotomy with Dor fundoplication, which was effective in 80.0% of cases.</p&gt;}, number={4}, journal={Galician Medical Journal}, author={Ratchik, Vadim and Babii, Oleksandr and Prolom, Natalia and Shevchenko, Boris}, year={2018}, month={Dec.} }