Abstract
Recurrence of symptoms after cardiomyotomy, performed either surgically or by endoscopy, is not an uncommon event and may have different causes. When this occurs, patients should undergo a complete work-up including high-resolution manometry, pH-monitoring, barium swallow, and upper endoscopy to elucidate, as much as possible, the causes of failure of the primary treatment. Multiple therapeutic options are now available when symptoms recur: pneumatic dilation, re-do laparoscopic myotomy, peroral endoscopic myotomy (POEM), or re-do POEM. The evidence to support any of these options is very weak at most, but good clinical practice suggests starting from the less invasive therapy (pneumatic dilation) and scaling-up to the most invasive. POEM is a very attractive option to treat recurrences, however this statement is based only on a handful of isolated reports.
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Zaninotto, G., Guidozzi, N., Markar, S.R. (2020). Laparoscopy or Endoscopic Therapy for Recurrent Symptoms from Achalasia. In: Ferguson, M. (eds) Difficult Decisions in Thoracic Surgery. Difficult Decisions in Surgery: An Evidence-Based Approach. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-47404-1_40
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