Innovative endoscopic alternatives for the conservative management of recurrent/refractory esophageal strictures in children: A case series

BACKGROUND Refractory esophageal strictures (ES) are defined an anatomical restriction without an active endoscopic inflammation resulting in dysphagia after a minimum of five seriated dilatations in a 4-weeks interval. Recurrent ES (REES) refer to the inability to maintain a satisfactory luminal diameter for four weeks once an age-appropriate feeding diameter was achieved. Seriated endoscopic dilations are the reference maintenance for ES in pediatric age. Iterative dilations increase the risk of complications and may cause significant organic and psychological consequences in children and excessive costs for families and health systems. Furthermore, fibrotic modifications can make the surgery even more challenging. The surgical approach is burdened by high morbidity, with prolonged hospitalization and delayed oral refeeding in fragile patients with comorbidities. AIM To evaluate the efficacy and safety of the most recent adjuvant treatments, with the aim of avoiding or, at least, postponing surgery. METHODS Intralesional steroids or mitomycin C injections with antiproliferative and anti-fibroblastic properties have been attempted, but have been abandoned because of systemic adsorption, local complications, or lack of efficacy. Self-expanding metal stents are generally designed for the palliation of neoplastic strictures in adults and rarely employed in pediatrics because of the high risk of complications, in terms of stent migration, local pain and perforation. Our group developed a customized dynamic esophageal stent to stabilize esophageal patency and promote continuous dilatation determined by the food passage between the stent and the REES wall, but it requires an appropriate diameter for placement. RESULTS Recently peroral endoscopic tunneling for restoration of the esophagus has been employed to treat esophageal obstructions exploiting the submucosal space. Re-absorbable self-expanding stents (like SX-ELLA Stent Esophageal Degradable BD-BD stent) and energy-delivering surgical devices (HARMONIC ACE™ + 7 Laparoscope) have also been proposed. CONCLUSION After an overview about the historically applied adjuvant therapies, we aim to update the common knowledge with our recent experience of these new minimally invasive options for pediatric REES and refractory ES in three exemplary cases, focusing on their mid-term effectiveness and safety for the purpose of maintain the patency after standard endoscopic dilations and avoiding or, at least, postponing an invasive replacement surgery.