2005 SAGES Abstracts

POSTER ABSTRACTS
3=severe). A total SS was calculated as the sum of scores in all
6 categories.
The male:female ratio was 1.14:1 and mean age of 46 years.
The mean duration of symptoms was 48 months and during
this time 80% of patients failed non-operative treatments
including botox (n=1), dilatation (n=12) or combined treatment
(n=11). Three patients had sigmoid esophagus on contrast
study. Only 6 patients did not receive any pre-operative treatment
and underwent MHMDF as a first line therapy. Some
form of pre-operative testing was carried out in all patients
and included manometry (n=17), upper gastro-intestinal series
(n=28) and upper endoscopy (n=29). Post-operative contrast
studies were performed in all patients.
MHMDF was completed laparoscopically in 29/30 patients.
There was one esophageal perforation necessitating an open
conversion and no mortality in the group. All patients regardless
of pre-operative therapy showed improvement in their
post-operative dysphagia scores. The total SS decreased significantly
from pre- to post-operatively in patients without previous
treatment (8.3 ± 3.8 vs. 1.3 ± 1.2, p