The best long-term treatment results for patients with idiopathic achalasia have been achieved with pneumatic dilation or surgical myotomy. A new study adds evidence that good or excellent symptomatic results can be achieved in the long term when pneumatic dilation is used as the primary treatment strategy. In cases of early treatment failure (<2 years), surgery was found to be the best rescue therapy.
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Eckardt, A., Eckardt, V. Should pneumatic dilation be the primary treatment strategy?. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol 7, 188–190 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrgastro.2010.33
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrgastro.2010.33
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