The POEM papers keep coming....
This study followed 23 sigmoid-type achalasia patients after POEM for 18 months. The surgery took an average of 67.6 minutes.
I always find comments like this amusing:
"Overall treatment success was achieved in 95.6% of the patients (22/23), and morphological improvement was observed in 95% (19/20) of the patients."
But... "In 10 patients (43.5%) complications were encountered, including gas-related complications, mucosal perforation, and reflux esophagitis."
At least the conclusion was honest: "Yet, further experiences and long-term results are warranted."
"Most centers perform a routine esophagram on postoperative day (POD) #1 to rule esophageal perforation and leaks. In this study, we sought to determine the clinical utility of routine contrast studies post-POEM."
"Overall, 56 patients had abnormal studies. POD #1 esophagram demonstrated a sensitivity of 100 % and specificity of 45 % in identifying clinically significant complications.
CONCLUSIONS: In this series, we found routine esophagram to have a high sensitivity but a very low specificity in detecting clinically significant complications. Routine esophagram after POEM may not be necessary."
This paper's conclusion is a bit puzzling given the number of post POEM abnormal studies. Wouldn't you want to check your work? I will take the radiation exposure to make sure all is OK.
