Achalasia cardia is the failure of LES (lower esophageal sphincter) to relax and let the food pass down to stomach leading to difficulty in swallowing food.
If you have achalasia, your LES fails to open up during swallowing, which it’s supposed to do. This leads to a backup of food within your esophagus. This condition can be related to damaged nerves in your esophagus. It can also be due to damage of the LES.
The main cause of achalasia is degeneration of the nerve cells in the esophagus (the food pipe). The exact reason why this happens is not known. The loss of nerve cells in the esophagus causes two major problems that interfere with swallowing. Firstly, the muscles that line the esophagus do not contract normally, so that swallowed food is not pushed forward through the esophagus and into the stomach properly. Secondly the lower esophageal sphincter (LES), a valve made of of muscles, does not relax with swallowing as it does in normal people. As a result, the esophagus above the persistently contracted LES starts to dilate, and large volumes of food and saliva can accumulate in the dilated esophagus.
The diagnosis can be made based on symptoms and following tests are done to confirm the diagnosis.
All treatments reduce the pressure within the lower esophageal sphincter (LES) to allow easier passage of food from the esophagus into the stomach. The muscle of the LES is divided leaving the mucosa (inner lining of the esophagus) intact.
Achlasiaecardia is the failure of the (LES) lower esophageal sphincter to relax and let the food pass down to the stomach which leads to difficulty in swallowing food.
The exact cause is not known, however there is degeneration of the nerves to esophageal muscles.
The complications of achalasia include weight loss and aspiration pneumonia. There often is inflammation of the esophagus, called esophagitis, which is caused by the irritating effect of food and fluids that collect in the esophagus for prolonged periods of time. There may be esophageal ulcerations as well. There is an increased occurrence of cancer of the esophagus in patients with achalasia.
Patients with Achalasia present with difficulty in swallowing, regurgitation and chest pain. It can be diagnosed by Upper Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, barium swallow or manometry.
The amount of pain is different for each person. The pain can be controlled with the help of pain control medications. You will be able to walk and go to the bathroom yourself.
Generally, you can be discharged 2 days following surgery.
In general, plan to take about one week off from work.
Mostly the procedure is covered under most medical insurance plans. Please confirm in your policy documents.