Retrospective Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2020. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Mar 14, 2020; 26(10): 1080-1087
Published online Mar 14, 2020. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v26.i10.1080
Predictors of outcomes of endoscopic balloon dilatation in strictures after esophageal atresia repair: A retrospective study
Dong-Ling Dai, Chen-Xi Zhang, Yi-Gui Zou, Qing-Hua Yang, Yu Zou, Fei-Qiu Wen
Dong-Ling Dai, Chen-Xi Zhang, Yi-Gui Zou, Qing-Hua Yang, Yu Zou, Fei-Qiu Wen, Department of Gastroenterology, Shenzhen Children's Hospital, 7019 Yitian Road, Futian District, Shenzhen 518036, Guangdong Province, China
Author contributions: Dai DL conceived and designed the study; Wen FQ served as a scientific advisor; Dai DL treated the patients by endoscopic balloon dilatation and prepared the manuscript; Zhang CX, Zou YG, and Yang QH took care of the patients and collected, analyzed, and interpreted the data; Zou YG analyzed the data.
Supported by the Shenzhen Innovation and Technology Committee, No. JCYJ20180228175150018; and the Guangdong Medical Research Foundation (CN), No. A2018550.
Institutional review board statement: The study was reviewed and approved for publication by the Ethics Committee of Shenzhen Children’s Hospital.
Informed consent statement: Informed consent was waived due to the retrospective nature of this study.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Data sharing statement: All data underlying the findings are fully available without restriction. All relevant data are included in this published article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Fei-Qiu Wen, MD, PhD, Chief Doctor, Gastroenterology Department, Shenzhen Children’s Hospital, 7019 Yitian Road, Futian District, Shenzhen 518036, Guangdong Province, China. fwen62@163.com
Received: December 4, 2019
Peer-review started: December 4, 2019
First decision: December 30, 2019
Revised: January 10, 2020
Accepted: February 15, 2020
Article in press: February 15, 2020
Published online: March 14, 2020
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background

Endoscopic balloon dilatation (EBD) has become the first line of therapy for benign esophageal strictures (ESs); however, there are few studies on the predictive factors for outcomes of EBD treatment for anastomotic strictures after esophageal atresia (EA) repair in pediatric patients.

Research motivation

We aimed to perform a retrospective cohort analysis to help choose the optimal time for EBD treatment for anastomotic strictures after EA repair in pediatric patients.

Research objectives

Our analysis aimed to evaluate the response, safety, and predictive factors for the outcome of EBD treatment for ESs.

Research methods

This is a monocentric retrospective cohort analysis. Patients treated by EBD for benign stricture after thoracoscopic EA repair in Shenzhen Children's Hospital from January 2012 to December 2016 were included. The demographic features, characteristics of the strictures, and outcomes were recorded. The response, complications, and recurrence rates were comparatively evaluated, and the risk factors were analyzed.

Research results

The number of dilatation sessions and complications were significantly greater in patients with smaller diameter strictures and with more than one stricture. The length of the stricture was significantly associated with complications of EBD. A longer interval between surgery and the first dilatation was related to more sessions and a poorer response.

Research conclusions

The diameter, length, and number of strictures are the most important factors for the clinical outcomes of EBD in strictures after EA repair. The interval between surgery and the first EBD is a key factor for response and the number of sessions of dilatation.

Research perspectives

Future studies analyzing safety and factors for the outcome of EBD treatment should focus on a comparison between strictures of different etiologies.