Clinical usefulness of esophagogastric junction distensibility measurement in patients with achalasia before and after peroral endoscopic myotomy

This study aimed to determine the clinical efficacy of measuring the esophagogastric junction (EGJ) distensibility index (DI) in patients with achalasia before and after peroral endoscopic myotomy (POEM). Retrospective data were collected from 195 patients who underwent POEM from November 2014 to November 2017 at our clinic. The Eckardt score, high-resolution manometry, and EGJ distensibility were measured before and six months after POEM. Treatment failure was defined as a postprocedure Eckardt score >3 or patients who underwent repeat POEM. The DI (mm2/mmHg) before and after POEM was 3.42±3.55 and 11.57±6.64, respectively (p