Background: Esophageal stricture is a rare complication of radiotherapy: reports on its incidence and management are therefore anecdotal.
Methods: From January 1978 to September 1992, 44 patients presenting with an esophageal stricture related to a previous radiation treatment were endoscopically dilated at the Endoscopy Division of the Istituto Nazionale Tumori of Milan.
Results: Esophageal recanalization was obtained in 95% of the patients treated, and in 79% of these normal eating habits were restored. No strict correlation was observed between radiation dose and severity of the stricture, or time elapsed between first treatment and endoscopic dilation.
Conclusions: In our experience, endoscopic dilation was a safe effective procedure and represented an effective palliative tool in dysphagic patients with esophageal strictures due to previous local radiotherapy.