Abstract:

Objective: To explore the treatment effect of the argon plasma coagulation （APC）in the endoscopic treatment of esophageal achalasia. Methods: Twelve patients diagnosed as achalasia with barium meal and endoscopy from Jan 2010 to Jan 2012 were treated with APC. The single operating interval time was 1-3 seconds，treatment numbers were dependent on the depth of the partial tissue coagulation （general chosed 4 ring coagulation points, appropriate depth of 0.2-0.3 cm, 10 mL of 1:5 norepinephrine saline was applied intra-operatively）. Patients were then treated with pharmacological hematischesis and anti-infection therapy, as well as the liquid diet for 3 days postoperatively. Patients left hospital after 7-days observation. All the cases were followed up by barium meal and endoscopy examination in 1-3 months after APC. Results: Two cases were lost in 12 patients, the other 10 patients, whose clinical symptoms were disappeared, were not found esophageal achalasia recurrence by barium meal and endoscopy.Conclusion: APC is a new technique and it is an effective and convenient method in esophageal achalasia treatment, which should be
widely applied.

Key words: esophageal achalasia, argon plasma coagulation, endoscopic