All issues > Volume 41(11); 1998

Case Report

J Korean Pediatr Soc. 1998;41(11):1596-1600. Published online November 15, 1998.

A Case of Achalasia Managed by Balloon Dilatation

Hwa-Yeon HY Lee¹, Jin-A JA Son¹, Jae-Wook JW Ko¹, Jae-Yun JY Kim², Don-Hee DH Ahn¹, Byung-Kook BK Gwak², Jeong-Kee JK Seo³

¹Department of Pediatrics, National Medical Center, Seoul, Korea
²Department of Pediatrics, National Medical Center, Seoul, Korea
²Department of Radiology, National Medical Center, Seoul, Korea
³Department of Pediatrics, Seoul National University, College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea

Correspondence Hwa-Yeon HY Lee ,Email: 1

Abstract

An 8-year-old male was admitted because of dysphagia and substernal pain suffered while eating followed by postprandial vomiting for 2 years. He was always hungry due to postprandial vomiting and willing to eat again just after vomiting. After this meals, he used to jump up and down to shake off the substernal discomfort. A narrowing of the gastroesophageal junction was noted by esophagogram. Manometry revealed high Lower esophageal sphincter(LES) pressure (51.6mmHg), incomplete LES relaxation during swallowing, loss of esophageal peristalsis and a positive pressure of the esophageal body compared to intragastric pressure. After the 1st balloon dilatation, symptoms were much improved even though LES pressure still remained high(37.2mmHg). About 2 months after the 1st balloon dilatation, symptoms relapsed and we managed him with a 2nd balloon dilatation. Symptoms were more improved than after the 1st dilatation and LES pressure normalized as well. Since the 2nd dilatation, symptoms have not recurred for 3 years. We present an 8-year-old boy with achalasia successfully managed by the use balloon dilatation.

Keywords :Achalasia, Child, Balloon dilatation