The neurogastrointestinal team crafts personalized treatment plans for every patient with gastrointestinal neuromotility disorders, addressing their specific condition, individual health needs, lifestyle and goals.
Pneumatic dilation is a medical procedure that helps ease the symptoms of achalasia, a condition in which the sphincter muscle at the bottom of the esophagus that should relax to allow food to move into the stomach isn’t working properly. Food and drink can, therefore, get stuck in the stomach.
To help fix this, you will be given anesthesia and your specialist will insert an endoscope down the throat to the lower esophagus sphincter muscle. The endoscope helps guide a balloon to the trouble area and we use air to inflate the balloon in order to stretch the muscle so it will work properly. The inflated balloon may be left in place for several minutes.
Some patients need to have the procedure repeated to feel the maximum effect.