Aims:
Zenker's diverticulum (ZD) is a low prevalent disease (0,01%-0.11%), more frequent
in men in the seventh and eighth decades of life. Dysphagia is the most common symptom.
Endoscopic cricopharyngeal myotomy is accepted as an effective and safe treatment.
The aim is to evaluate the dysphagia with a simple questionnaire Eating Assesment
Tool (EAT-10) as a system of response to the endoscopic treatment of the ZD and detection
of relapses, independently of the technique used.
Methods:
This is a retrospective observational study of patients with ZD treated by endoscopic
cricopharyngeal myotomy during the period 2009 – 2017.
Variables such as demographics, symptoms, type of technique used (sealing-section
with LigaSure, autosuture with stapler EndoGIA 35-mm, section with Knife SB Junior),
complications were collected during admission, all patients were followed after discharge,
and we applied EAT-10 questionnaire by telephone.
Results:
Twenty-six procedures were performed (21 LigaSure, 3 EndoGIA and 2 SBjunior) in 24
patients with an average age of 75.5 years. The EAT-10 questionnaire was performed
to 16 patients. Four had died from other causes, two were not located and two did
not present dysphagia at the diagnostic. The average size of the diverticulum was
3 cm, the average time of exploration was 37 minutes, and the hospital stay average
was 2 days. One patient had pneumonia and another required a cervicotomy to the clinical
and radiological suspicion of mediastinitis that was not confirmed. Average post-treatment
follow-up was 26 months (2 – 85). Median dysphagia measured by the EAT-10 pretreatment
scale was 26 points (18 – 34) and post-treatment 2 points (0 – 9).
Conclusions:
The application of the EAT-10 scale before and after endoscopic treatment of the ZD
is a simple method to test its efficacy and detect recurrences in those patients who
presented dysphagia at the diagnostic, regardless of the technique used (LigaSure,
EndoGIA, SB Junior).
