Management of benign oesophageal strictures in children

Managing oesophageal strictures, whether benign or malignant has always been a challenging task for ENT Surgeons, Endoscopists, Cardio-thoracic surgeons and Gastro-enterologists. Although various newer technological developments have helped in better management of malignant strictures, it is the benign strictures that are still being managed by conventional means with gum-elastic bougies and other dilatation techniques. Children are not immune to benign strictures, rather corrosive strictures, congenital webs and membranes etc. are much more common in the paediatric age group. We present the technical details and our experience in managing benign oesophageal strictures in five children by endoscopic balloon dilatation.