ENDOSCOPIC STAPLED DIVERTICULOTOMY - A REAL ADVANCE IN THE TREATMENT OF HYPOPHARYNGEAL DIVERTICULUM

Between November 1993 and May 1996, 51 patients with a hypopharyngeal diverticulum were treated by endoscopic stapled diverticulotomy. Norma l swallowing was resumed within 36 h of surgery in 73%, and in 93% by 72 h. Two patients required nasogastric feeding for 5-7 days. There we re no operative deaths or serious operative morbidity, and there have been no recorded cases of clinical recurrence of pouches to date (maxi mum follow-up 562 days: 46 cases over 12 months). The low morbidity, s hort hospital stay and early return to normal Feeding, combined with a relative absence of complications or pouch recurrence, make endoscopi c stapled diverticulotomy the treatment of choice for the majority of patients.