Pneumatic dilitation

Hi Angie,

i had a dilatation around 9 or 10 years ago now and 8 am still getting relief from it. 

Before this procedure I had lost around a stone in weight and could not sleep due to coughing, plus eating was difficult of course.

My surgeon opted for the OGD and it has proved the right treatment for me. 

It is not so invasive and you can have more if required.  

Hope this helps, and good luck.

Jan 

Had the dilitation back in April of this year and it worked very well, however I feel now the symptons are starting to come back, ie chest pains, unable to swallow etc. Surgeon has said he normally carries out a second dilitation roughly 6 months after the first anyway. So hopefully this will give the relief many previous sufferers have recieved from it. 

The dilatation is an easy procedure (relatively) for the doctors to do, and it can be successful.   Some people manage with a dilatation every so often and keep more or less trouble free for some years.   It won't be a magic bullet and you will need to be careful with what you eat and how you relax and so on, as you would with any procedure.   Dilatation does not involve cutting any muscles; it simply stretches the lower oesophageal sphincter.

?For quite a lot of people, the benefit of dilatation does not last for more than a few months, and if this happens you probably need then to be thinking very carefully about the long term, since repeated dilatations can make the tissue fibrous and make the prospects of surgery a bit less successful.  

So it is a good initial option which should be OK at least for the short term.   The best approach is to make sure that you get a full and accurate diagnosis and then go for the procedure, recommended by your surgeon, that will give you the best long term benefit.   So if it turns out that dilatation does not work effectively for very long, do not keep repeating this in an indefinite cycle, go for a procedure that will give you benefit for longer.

When i was first diagnosed with achalasia i had the dilation done

and unfortunately only lasted 1 week . The second one was better but i still

had problems within 3 months of having it done.

The surgeon who did my hellers myotomy told me they no longer perform

the dilation because of the risks and it is only offered as an alternative for someone who can't have the surgery.

I was told that having the dilation too many times can damage the tissue

making surgery more difficult in the future.

I do hope you have better luck with the preocedure as i know many people on here have had success from it.

Hi I had a myotomy old style 30 years ago.It helped a lot and using coping strategies it was ok , until aver the last 2yrs symptoms began to get worse again. My surgeon suggested dilation which was completed beginning of August. I wish I had had this done sooner,i am eating really well with no indigestion. I am on 15mg of ppi daily to stop reflux. I would say dilation is well worth trying wishing you goid luck. Maz

Had mine done October 11th.  Already had regulr dilation and boxto with no relief. After this surgery first two weeks lots of chest pain, but got meds  for that.   I feel SO much better.  I have a swallow issue which is a different illness on it is on which causes other problems.  But that 24/7 feeling of carrying 100lbs in my gut is gone.  No more regurgitation of eaten food.  Now my surgeon said the surgery is simple,  it's if there is a perferation afterthat is hard.  Now the surgon I saw is an expert in his field, Dr. Ritcher at USF Tampa and has done of 12k plus where my local GI said most GI doctors only do 5 to 75 their entire professional career. 

Good luck to you, I like this because it is the least evasive and you can go back to normal life.  I hope helps you as much as it did me. And they can do it again.