Control of severe strictures after circumferential endoscopic submucosal dissection for esophageal carcinoma: oral steroid therapy with balloon dilation or balloon dilation alone

Background Recent technological advances have allowed superficially spreading intramucosal carcinomas of the esophagus to be successfully resected by circumferential endoscopic submucosal dissection (cESD). After this procedure, esophageal strictures develop in most patients and are mainly treated by endoscopic balloon dilation (EBD). Objective To compare oral steroids plus EBD with EBD alone for the management of benign esophageal strictures after cESD. Design Retrospective cohort study. Setting Tertiary-care referral center. Patients We studied 23 consecutive patients who underwent complete cESD for superficial esophageal carcinoma (22 squamous cell carcinomas and 1 adenocarcinoma associated with Barrett's esophagus). Intervention After cESD, patients were managed with EBD alone (EBD, n=13) or with EBD and oral prednisolone (steroid + EBD, n=10), 30 mg daily, started 2 days after cESD and gradually tapered and discontinued after 8 weeks. Main Outcome Measurements Total number of EBD sessions and total EBD period (months). Results Steroid + EBD patients required fewer sessions (13.8 ± 6.9 vs 33.5 ± 22.9; P P = .005) compared with the EBD group. An additional 3 patients received oral steroids a mean interval of 158 days after cESD. These patients required more EBD sessions (46.3 ± 30.0; P = .002), and the EBD period was significantly longer (17.5 ± 13.0 months; P = .005) than in the early steroid + EBD group. Limitations Nonrandomized study; retrospective analysis. Conclusion After cESD, oral steroid therapy dramatically reduced the need for EBD. We conclude that oral steroid therapy after EBD is an effective strategy for the management of esophageal strictures after complete cESD.