Endoscopic therapeutic esophageal interventions

At the close of the 20th century, therapeutic endoscopy in the esophagus ha s expanded to encompass a broad array of interventions. As the number of pr ocedures grows, emphasis in the medical literature has begun to shift to an alyses of which procedures should be performed. Many studies published in 1 999 on topics ranging from endoscopic treatment of benign and malignant str ictures, to variceal bleeding, to Barrett esophagus have focused on which o f several methods provides the best long-term response with the fewest inte rventions. This is a review of the major published studies of endoscopic in terventions in the esophagus as well as selected abstracts. The conclusions of these studies and reports of new endoscopic therapies draw a clear map of where nonoperative esophageal therapeutics are headed in the next severa l years. Curr Opin Gastroenterol 2000, 16:380-385 (C) 2000 Lippincott Willi ams & Wilkins, Inc.