Abstract
Achalasia is a primary and profound esophageal motility disorder with an unclear etiology and which is, to date, incurable. In spite of its rare occurrence in the population (1 : 100,000), it stimulates large amounts of research and commentary by gastrointestinal (GI) physicians and surgeons, in large part due to ongoing controversy over the optimal treatment of these patients. When a nalyzing treatment options it is critical to keep in mind that all treatments are palliative in nature and are primarily aimed at relief of dysphagia and regurgitation. Normal esophageal function is almost never restored, and even a patient with an excellent result will not have completely normal swallowing.
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Swanstrom, L.L., Taylor, M.D. (2007). Botox, Balloon, or Myotomy: Optimal Treatment for Achalasia. In: Ferguson, M.K. (eds) Difficult Decisions in Thoracic Surgery. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-84628-474-8_35
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-84628-474-8_35
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