Current status in the treatment options for esophageal achalasia

Table 1 Cumulative effectiveness of pneumatic dilations for treatment of achalasia by using low compliance “Rigiflex” dilators

No.	Type of dilator (size, cm)	Improvement excellent/good	Mean follow-up (yr)	Complication perforation	Ref.
125	3.0-4.0	50%	12.00%	0.01%	[27]
54	BMD	36%-40%	13.80%	0.02%	[13]
262	3.0-3.5	60%	4.50%	1.00%	[14]
66	3.0-4.0	79%	4.60%	5.00%	[15]
39	3.0-4.0	58.3%-78.0%	9.30%	5.40%	[24]
50	3.0-4.0	67%-83%	2.70%	0.00%	[25]
106	3.0-4.0	28%-62%	3.20%	2.80%	[28]
209	3.0-4.0	72%	5.80%	0.00%	[23]
55	3.0-3.5	74.50%	2.30%	0.00%	[22]
43	3.0-3.5	54%-78%	2.40%	2.30%	[17]
56	3.5	89.3%-92.9%	0.50%	0.00%	[21]
32	3.0	69%-91%	4.50%	3.30%	[20]
1097	3.0-4.0	28.0%-92.9%	0.5%-15.0%	1.0%-2.0%	Total

BMD: Browne-McHardy dilator.