Aims Flexible endoscopic myotomy (FEM) of the cricopharyngeal muscle is a widely used
technique in the treatment of symptomatic Zenker’s diverticulum. It is considered
to be safe and effective. Nowadays a new endoscopic technique using submucosal tunneling
method (Z-POEM) has been introduced. Until now, no clear advantage of this new technique
has been confirmed.
Methods We retrospectively analyzed our experiences with conventional FEM.
Results 35 patients with symptomatic Zenker’s diverticulum were treated with FEM and 44 myotomies
were performed from September 2012 until November 2019. Most of our patients were
male (20/35), with average age of 72.1 (40-88) years. The mean size of diverticula
was 4 (2-10) cm. We have used diverticuloscope, while free-hand technique was needed
in 8 cases where positioning of the diverticuloscope could not be achieved due to
anatomical reasons.
34 patients were followed (mean 15 months), one patient was lost to follow-up. Clinical
success at 1 month was 91.1% (31/34). 3 patients remained symptomatic, one of them
was treated with re-myotomy and became symptom-free, another two patients refused
further interventions. Over the long term period, 25/31 patients remained symptom-free
after one myotomy. 5/31 patients required one further myotomy and one patient had
to undergo 2 more sessions of myotomies due to recurrence of symptoms. The overall
clinical success was 91.1% (31/34).
We observed pneumomediastinum in one patient that was treated conservatively successfully.
Intraprocedural bleeding has occurred in (5/44) cases, in all of them the bleeding
was successfully stopped during intervention. In one of them, early recurrent massive
bleeding required surgery. The overall rate of significant complications was 4.5%
(2/44), and there was no procedure-related mortality.
Conclusions Based on our experience, conventional cricopharyngeal myotomy with flexible endoscopy
is safe and effective for the treatment of Zenker’s diverticulum that does not need
special expertise in the field of submucosal tunneling technique.