Management of recurrent symptoms after per-oral endoscopic myotomy in achalasia

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Per-oral endoscopic myotomy (POEM) has been rapidly gaining ground as a treatment for achalasia. Although POEM is a safe and effective treatment, a subset of patients has persistent or recurrent symptoms after POEM. This study aimed to examine the efficacy of different retreatments after failed POEM.

METHODS: POEM was performed on 441 patients with achalasia at 3 tertiary-care hospitals between 2010 and 2015. A review of prospectively collected data was conducted. All patients with achalasia with significant persistent or recurrent symptoms within 3 years after POEM, defined as an Eckardt symptom score >3, were included.

RESULTS: Forty-three of 441 patients (9.8%) had persistent or recurrent symptoms after POEM, of which 34 (8%) received 1 or more retreatments. Retreatment with laparoscopic Heller myotomy and retreatment with POEM showed a modest efficacy of 45% and 63%, respectively, whereas pneumatic dilatation showed a poor efficacy of only 0% to 20%, depending on the size of the balloon. Male patients were more likely to have retreatment failure than female patients (P = .038).

CONCLUSIONS: In patients with achalasia with persistent or recurrent symptoms after failed POEM, retreatment with laparoscopic Heller myotomy or retreatment with POEM has a higher efficacy than retreatment with pneumatic dilatations. Failure of retreatment occurred more often in male patients.