Long-term effects of repeated injection sclerotherapy on esophageal motility and mucosa

Background: Endoscopic sclerotherapy (ST), widely used as treatment of bleeding esophageal varices, might cause motility disturbances of the esophagus as well as mucosal damage. We performed this study to evaluate the long-term effects of repeated sclerotherapy on esophageal motility and mucosa. Methods: Ten patients with liver cirrhosis and bleeding esophageal varices treated with repeated ST were evaluated after the last ST, median 52 months, by esophageal manometry and gastroscopy where forceps biopsies were taken. Results: We found a significant difference in the distal esophageal sphincter intraabdominal length. The distal esophageal sphincter pressure was somewhat lower in the ST group although the difference did not reach statistical significance. There was infiltration of neutrophil leukocytes in biopsies from four patients and normal findings in the rest. Conclusions: Long-term follow-up evaluation showed statistically longer distal esophageal intraabdominal length in the ST group. No mucosal alterations were found at the histopathological investigation. Received: 22 April 1996/Accepted: 20 August 1996