Combined treatment of refractory benign stricture after esophageal endoscopic mucosal dissection: A case report

BACKGROUND: Endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) post-procedure stricture is a relatively common long-term complication following ESD treatment. A range of approaches has been implemented for the treatment of post-procedural stricture using endoscopic techniques such as endoscopic dilation, self-expandable metallic stent insertion, local steroid injection in the esophagus, oral steroid administration, radial incision and cutting (RIC). The actual efficacy of these different therapeutic options is highly variable, and uniform international standards for the prevention or treatment of stricture. CASE SUMMARY: In this report, we describe the case of a 51-year-old male diagnosed with early esophageal cancer. To protect against esophageal stricture, the patient was administered oral steroids and underwent self-expandable metallic stent insertion for 45 d. Despite these interventions, stricture was detected at the lower edge of the stent following its removal. The patient remained refractory to multiple rounds of endoscopic bougie dilation treatment, and thus suffered from complex refractory benign esophageal stricture. As such, RIC combined with bougie dilation and steroid injection was employed to treat this patient more effectively, ultimately achieving satisfactory therapeutic efficacy. CONCLUSION: Combination of RIC, dilation, and steroid injection can be safely and effectively implemented to treat cases of post-ESD refractory esophageal stricture.