2 strictures in 21/2 year

[choc40]

Little son has underwent 3 dialations for 2 strictures on his esophagus, (upper and lower)  due to the accidental swallowing of a contaminant substance, he currently takes 30mg of prevacid.  The second dialation seemed to work longer but after the third one, he was quickly having swallowing problems with food getting stuck in his throat.  My question is will the stricture ever heal, and how many dialations will it take?


This discussion is related to Healing of a stricture.

[CalGal]

This is something that I believe only your doc may be able to answer because the severity of injury from caustic ingestion depends on the type, quantity, concentration and time of exposure to the toxic substance. And that will in part determine if/when healing will take place. If the stricture is in response to moderate to severe mucosal injury, and becomes evident within the first 4 to 6 weeks, they can usually be managed by antegrade or retrograde dilation. However, if the stricture is refractory it may require partial or complete esophagectomy or even gastrectomy in the most severe of cases that result in malnutrition.