Esophageal dysfunction in a female patient with diabetes mellitus and achalasia.

BACKGROUND: Achalasia is an infrequent disorder of esophageal motility. Diabetes mellitus is an endocrine metabolic disease, the complication of which can afflict the motor activity of gastroenteral tract. The combination of these diseases in one patient is also very rare. In this study we introduce one patient suffering from this scarce coincidence of diseases.

CASE HISTORY: A 54-year-old diabetic patient who lost weight of 26 kg in one month with repeated hypoglycaemic collapse states and regurgitation of poorly digested food and saliva with maintained appetite and thirst. The diagnosis of esophageal achalasia II was proved. A standard surgical performance was chosen, namely the laparoscopic myotomy. The extent of myotomy was verified by preoperative manometry. Approximately 1 month after the surgery, intermittent mild dysphagia especially after the consumption of solid food and some sorts of fruit appeared. The suspicion of stricture in the site of myotomy led us to the performance of endoscopic and radiologic examinations. The balloon calibration of cardia did not reveal any residual muscular fibres. The supplementation of a prokinetic drug of itoprid three times a day resulted in a significant improvement of difficulties.

CONCLUSION: Despite the sufficient extent of surgical treatment in a patient suffering from these two diseases, the resulting effect was not fully satisfactory. It is apparent that despite the correctly indicated and performed operation in patients suffering from a metabolic disease, the complications of which afflict the motility of upper digestive tract, the ideal response to treatment cannot be expected. The supplemented prokinetic therapy is inevitable, and informing the patient on the expected result and particular residual disorders can save both the patient and surgeon from disappointment. (Fig. 3, Ref. 8.).