Topic Highlight
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2016. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastrointest Endosc. Jan 25, 2016; 8(2): 56-66
Published online Jan 25, 2016. doi: 10.4253/wjge.v8.i2.56
Laparoscopic esophagomyotomy for achalasia in children: A review
T Kumar Pandian, Nimesh D Naik, Aodhnait S Fahy, Arman Arghami, David R Farley, Michael B Ishitani, Christopher R Moir
T Kumar Pandian, Nimesh D Naik, Aodhnait S Fahy, Arman Arghami, David R Farley, Division of Subspecialty General Surgery, Department of Surgery, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, United States
Arman Arghami, Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, United States
Michael B Ishitani, Christopher R Moir, Division of Pediatric Surgery, Department of Surgery, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, United States
Author contributions: Pandian TK conceptualized the paper, conducted the literature search and content development; Naik ND, Fahy AS and Arghami A conducted the literature search and content development; Moir CR served as senior author and oversaw content development; all authors were involved in manuscript development and revision; all authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflicts-of-interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: David R Farley, MD, FACS, Division of Subspecialty General Surgery, Department of Surgery, Mayo Clinic, 200 First Street SW, Rochester, MN 55905, United States. farley.david@mayo.edu
Telephone: +1-507-2842644 Fax: +1-507-2845196
Received: April 28, 2015
Peer-review started: May 6, 2015
First decision: September 8, 2015
Revised: September 28, 2015
Accepted: November 13, 2015
Article in press: November 17, 2015
Published online: January 25, 2016
Core Tip

Core tip: Laparoscopic Heller myotomy (LHM) is safe and effective in the pediatric achalasia population. Published studies are limited by their retrospective nature and small sample sizes. Further information regarding the need for and type of concurrent fundoplication, a more complete description of complications, and long-term (> 5 years) outcomes is needed. Peroral endoscopic myotomy and the single-incision approach are innovative techniques that may eventually prove to be the standard of care. Herein, we review the available literature on LHM in children with achalasia.