LAUSR

Laparoscopic myotomy and fundoplication for the treatment of achalasia presents with 90% success rate. The intraoperative use of manometry during surgery has been previously introduced to improve the outcome. Recently, we presented our pilot study proposing the use of the HRM during surgery. The aim of this study is to evaluate the long-term outcome of the intraoperative use of High-Resolution Manometry (HRM) in achalasia patients. In this prospective study, consecutive achalasia patients underwent laparoscopic myotomy and fundoplication along with real-time use of HRM. Eckardt scores (ES) and HRM results were collected before and after surgery. Twenty-three achalasia patients (22% Type I, 57% Type II, 22% Type III, according to Chicago Classification v3.0) with a mean age 48 years underwent calibrated and uneventful myotomy and fundoplication. Eleven myotomies were further extended, while sixteen fundoplications were intraoperatively modified, according to manometric findings. During postoperative follow-up, mean resting and residual pressures of the LES were significantly decreased after surgery (16,1 vs. 41,9, P = 0 and 9 vs. 28,7, P = 0, respectively). The ES was also diminished (1 vs. 7, P = 0). The intraoperative use of HRM during laparoscopic myotomy and fundoplication for the treatment of achalasia of the esophagus is a safe, promising and efficient approach aiming to individualize both myotomy and fundoplication for each achalasia patient. All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.